True Colors
by rawpotato
Summary: Hotch, Emily, a one night stand, a baby. How do they handle it, how does the team, how does Jack? The past doesn't dictate the future, it only shows us the mistakes we made and allows to make different ones. Rating for later chapters
1. I'm Pregnant

_I see you true colors, shining through  
I see your true colors, and that's what I love you  
So don't be afraid, to let them show  
Your true colors, your true colors  
Are beautiful like a rainbow_

The sound of a flushing toilet: not music to Emily Prentiss' ears. It had been a long while where she could make it through the day without throwing up, and shortly thereafter her naivety had left with a flush of the toilet.

She had told herself that she was sick with the stomach flu, which no one else seemed to have. She told herself that she was just getting sick, which didn't happen that often. Then she remembered JJ and what she had been like in her first few months of pregnancy.

It had been a rough journey coming to terms with the truth, with the fact that she may be honestly pregnant. It had been a onetime thing. A night spent in his bed. It hadn't even been a night, and there wasn't even a bed. Her and her boss had fallen into each other's arms in a drunken stupor, ending up in a closed office.

Christmas parties were grand.

Sighing, she got to her feet and left the stall, heading for the sinks and to wash her face. Hopefully no one in her team had noticed anything amiss, her sudden departures, and her inability to eat anything or drink anything other than ginger ale. She had noticed Hotch giving her odd looks when she would return, but she had shrugged them off, recalling their conversation about that span of time.

**

"_Prentiss, we need to talk." His voice was laced with quiet concern and something that she couldn't describe._

"_Yeah, I agree."She hoped that he wouldn't say 'a mistake', but she was preparing herself for the worst, that those were the words he had chosen. She would agree with him vehemently no matter what he said, but she hoped that she didn't have to agree with mistake._

_She was in love with him, the broken man that he was, and no matter what he was, she was deeply in love with him._

"_About the party." She used to be able to read this man, profile him, but suddenly nothing. Maybe love truly was blind._

_She simply nodded, not trusting herself to say words for fear that she would throw herself on her knees and beg him for his undying love, and confess hers._

"_I'm not saying that it was a mistake," God she hated 'buts'. "But, it's not something that can happen again. Or something that can affect or work together."_

_Rehearsed words, and the strange ability to lie very well shone through the sense of utter disappointment she felt and plastered a smile on her face. "Okay." She usually prided herself on her ability to compartmentalise, but now she felt her boxes collapsing upon each other and he resolve to stay strong falling with them._

_He seemed surprised by her quick agreement, and his brow rose in speculation._

"_You are right Hotch. It shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again."_

_Luckily JJ walked into the room saving her from having to run away from him. "Guys, we've got a case. BAU room in five."_

_Hotch nodded, and Emily took it as her cue to leave quickly while she still could, salvaging herself from crying in front of him. He had her heart, an intimate moment from her, and she refused to give him more of herself, when it couldn't happen again._

**

Splashing some cold water onto her face, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the door slammed open. Grabbing her gun quickly and pointing it at the intruder, she lowered it quickly when she saw that it was JJ.

"Geeze Emily!" JJ practically yelled, her own hand hovering by her gun when she came face to face with the barrel of Emily's gun.

"Sorry Jayje." Emily re-holstered her gun, and placed on hand protectively on her stomach. Though nothing was showing, Emily knew of the baby growing there, and the urge to protect it was overwhelming considering that it was a mixture of her and Hotch.

JJ's eyes flashed to her stomach, but quickly looked back to her eyes, and Emily could feel the blue orbs searching her face, trying to read anything there.

"What?"

"Emily, is something wrong? Or right?" JJ had moved into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking the bolt, effectively locking Emily into whatever conversation was about to happen.

Suddenly desperate to escape, Emily took a step away from JJ the need to throw up having nothing to do with the pregnancy nausea she was fighting. Just as she was about to speak, JJ whipped out her blackberry and started texting someone.

Hand still laying flat on her stomach, Emily weighed her options. She had a few inches and probably ten pounds on her friend, and wildly grasping at straws she knew that fighting her way past one of her best friends would invite more questions than answers.

Just as she was coming up with Plan B a knock sounded through the room, and surprisingly JJ turned and opened the door allowing Penelope into the room. Once the door was locked again, her friends turned on her and backed her into the corner.

"Okay sunshine," Penelope began, her endearment lost in the seriousness of her voice. "We know the truth, and we want to know it from you."

"Emily, we are your friends, you can trust us with anything." JJ's voice added, understanding threading her words.

Though her friends had backed her into a corner and were accosting her about secrets, she knew that they meant well. Well enough to know that she should probably have gone to them sooner. She wouldn't tell them the truth about the father, for that was a secret that would ruin her long before a surprise pregnancy would.

"I'm pregnant." The words rolled off her tongue surprisingly easy, and her friends faces immediately softened as she was pulled into their arms. Tears started flowing and Emily felt lighter than she had since the conversation between her and Hotch about an encounter that shouldn't have happened.

"We know. We were just waiting for you to tell us." JJ's voice was light and happy and suddenly the locked door didn't feel like a trap, more of an intervention. One that she was glad for.

"Who's the baby daddy?"

Emily laughed at Penelope's question, the one question she couldn't answer. So a lie bubbled to her lips, and once again she was feeling trapped. She didn't want to tell them before she told him, and she had yet to tell him, the words _'a mistake' _flowing through her head.

"Umm, I haven't told him yet. So I'd like to wait until he knows." She hoped it was that simple, that they would believe her words and not press her for more information.

"OMG... seriously this is just like 'Friends'. That is exactly what Rachel told them before she told Ross, which makes me think that it is one of our four boys." Penelope's voice had taken on its usually jovial tone, and that fact too made Emily smile.

"Morgan?" JJ had turned back to her and Emily kept her face impassive so as not to give anything away.

"Rossi? They are rather close." Penelope added.

"One Dr. Spencer Reid?" Still Emily held still knowing what was coming next. There was only one other boy left and Emily knew that she needed to stay strong.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hotch!" They said it together and both turned to look at Emily, face's alight with joy and mischief.

Emily kept her face still with a great deal of strength and determination, and waited until they moved on. After a few moments of awkward silence, it was apparent that they wouldn't move on, and Emily had to speak up, not saying anything actually saying everything.

Placing her hand back on her stomach she looked at her friends and smiled at both of them, hoping that neither of them would say anything that would prompt her to further incriminate herself. She couldn't simply plead the fifth in this situation.

"Ladies, I am not telling you anything."

They simply smiled at each other, and nodded knowingly, leaving Emily to wonder what they were thinking. That would lead down a road with more questions, and answers she wasn't ready to give.

"When are you going to tell them?" JJ looked at her, and Emily remembered learning about her pregnancy. That had been an awkward moment for Hotch, and Emily wondered how awkward her announcement would be.

"Actually I was going to do it at this morning's briefings. I've waited long enough, any longer and they would know because I would be showing." Instantly her friends hands were on either side of hers covering her abdomen and tidings of joy overtook her, and love for her friends bubbled inside her. No matter what Hotch said, she would have her two best friends with her throughout this.

*

Emily sat at the round table and took in her friends waiting for JJ to come in with files. Reid was spinning in his chair, describing some math theory to Morgan who looked only slightly interested. Rossi and Hotch were bent together smiles and laughter flowing between them. Penelope was sitting next to Morgan and was also slightly interested in Reid's theory, but was actually playing Tic Tac Toe with Morgan.

Within all this activity she had only eyes for Hotch and imaginings for the baby they had made. Jack, her favourite five year old, and Hotch's son, looked more like his late mother. The blond hair, blue eyes and round face were nothing like his father's dark hair, dark eyes and angled face. They shared the same facial expressions and penchant for perception; they both smiled and laughed whole heartedly, and were fiercely loyal.

She wondered if their baby would be the same.

Breaking into her musings JJ came into the room and started handing out files, and the rest of the team feel into silence. Unlike her normal morning greetings JJ immediately came and stood beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Before we get started, Emily has something she needs to say."

Hotch's eyes which were on JJ slipped to her and he nodded, concern written on his face.

"Well, I am pregnant."

Morgan and Rossi stood and quickly moved to her side, and enveloped her in big hugs, and Reid followed shortly after them. He offered her a clumsy hug and a soft kiss on her cheek. Reid was one of her greatest friends, and she was thankful for his soft hug.

Six of them stood together and Hotch still sat in his chair, emotions running rampant through his face and eyes. Quickly he stood and moved to her and wrapped her in his arms. The hug was short and quick and he moved back to his chair seemingly to avoid being near her.

As the team moved back to their original chairs and set about listening to JJ as she started in on the requests their team got, Hotch caught her eye and mouthed a single word, 'Later.' She didn't know if he would put it together, but she hoped that he would accept it when she told him.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Criminal Minds. Which I'm slowly coming to terms with. Why, you might ask, well I'll tell you. I am greedy. And I wouldn't allow fanfiction. But I love fanfiction, so for now I'm okay with not owning it. If the powers that do own it, want to give it to me, I would have to share with all my favorite authors. You know who you are._

_**AN: **I hope that people read this. I mean I know they will, but I have a whole host of ideas for this story, but I'd also like to know what you would like to see. If you have any idea's please let me know. I would appreciate any suggestions, but for now I've got to go see a man about a horse. (I'm really going to work on a 'Castle' story. Shhh... don't tell Hotch and Emily, or the little baby, they might get jealous.  
On that note, I need a pet name for Emily to call the baby. (and don't worry, we are getting to the part where this is just like that time she was 15.)_

_Happy hunting to all._


	2. Is It Mine?

_**"Grandfather say, it doesn't rain every day. This is good news." - Mr. Kim (from the movie 'The Fifth Element')**_

_March _

Shock. Complete and absolute shock. Something Aaron Hotchner hadn't felt in a very long time. He hadn't known what she was going to say when JJ made her announcement, but he hadn't been expecting that. It was very much like a punch to his gut, so physically painful that he'd faltered in getting to her to congratulate her like the rest of the team had.

Hell even Reid had made it to her before he had, but then again that didn't surprise him as much as he thought it would. Reid and Prentiss were great friends, more of an odd mother/brother relationship between them. One which he was thankful for.

But now sitting in his office, looking out through his blinds into the bullpen watching her, he didn't know what to think. He was sure that the baby was his, never having known her to be one to sleep around recklessly.

Except of course for their encounter, but that had been influenced by drink and a turbulent month where she had been there for him and his son without question. He certainly hadn't meant to force her against the door, and take her quickly, but his need for her had overwhelmed him, and he had to do something to stop it.

He blamed Morgan for hanging the mistletoe. He blamed himself for standing under it and not knowing it was there. He blamed himself again for kissing her. He blamed her for kissing him back.

He could blame the world and it wouldn't change the fact that she was having a baby.

"_Having my baby, what a lovely way to say you love me." _Trickled through his head, and he shook it loose, knowing that of all the emotions that she had for him, love was probably somewhere amongst the bottom.

Quickly picking up his phone he dialled her extension, his desire to speak to her in private greater than his hesitation at interrupting what had become an impromptu celebration. His team had all gathered around her desk, and were drinking orange juice from the champagne glasses Garcia kept in her office.

"Hotch come join us." Reid's voice hit him first and the rest of them all clamoured their greetings and invitations, and for the first time Hotch hated speaker phone.

"Umm, thanks for the invite, but can I just talk to Prentiss alone? In my office. Please." All of their faces swivelled to his office and he smiled, offering them a pathetic wave. A beep sounded in his ear, signalling the end of the call. Replacing the phone in its cradle he waited for her to come into his office.

Prentiss, that's what he had called her. When she had been in his home, helping to care for his son those three months ago she had been Emily. Not Prentiss, nor Agent, but just Emily. He had missed that comfort of her given name. She had only called him Aaron once, and it had been at the same time he'd last called her Emily. The 20 minutes spent just inside his door, blinds drawn and bodies joined in what he had dreamt about countless times since.

He watched as she hugged JJ and Garcia and they shared some quiet words, and as the other guys all moved to Reid's desk to give them privacy.

Emily Prentiss was anything but weak, but for some reason, his need to protect her had skyrocketed with the words, 'I'm pregnant.' And even what he thought to be true wasn't, he needed to let her know that he would be there for her, just as she had been for him.

Finally she was in his doorway, and his manners dictated he stand. What he really wanted to do was run to her and demand the truth for his own selfish need, but for some reason he was rooted to the spot. What if he was wrong? What if the baby wasn't his? Pangs of jealousy roared through him, and he couldn't fathom another man in her arms.

He may not have staked his claim on her, but he didn't want another man to. In some dark spot in his mind, the spots where he wanted to ravage her again and again, she was his claim or no claim. And likewise he was hers. As far back as his separation from Haley, he hadn't wanted another woman in his bed, nor in fact had another woman in his bed.

"You wanted to see me?" Even her voice sounded small to his ears and he knew that he was to blame for her current bout of insecurity.

"Yes, please shut the door." He moved around the desk and towards the couch that sat at the back of his office. This was to be an intimate conversation, and he didn't want anything left between them, including a desk.

They sat as far from each other as they could, and Hotch wondered if her mind had dictated her actions knowing that the team was probably spying on them. None of them knew what had happened between them three months ago, and he was certain that they didn't even suspect that they had, had sex. Sometimes he could even believe it.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and speak, she started speaking, and he closed his mouth straight away, intent on listening to her words.

"Before you say anything, I just wanted to let you know that I am prepared to limit my role in the field. Also that I've filled out the required forms for informing my supervisor about my current state of health." She said all the words so fast that he could hardly take them in.

Forms, who cares about forms? Well he did, but not right now, there was a time for that, and this wasn't it. He wanted to know about her, and who she was doing. Granted he hadn't been the best shoulder for her ever, but he was going to be. Ready or not, he had to be if this baby was his.

He nodded and swallowed, giving himself another moment to think of how he wanted to proceed. Just jump in and ask what he wanted to know? Or go about it in a roundabout way? He wasn't sure. "Um, I just have one question really." He felt his eyes drop form hers, the auburn orbs so good at hiding any form of truth about her, giving him nothing, and fall to her stomach. Would her baby have her eyes? If it did any suitor would be hard pressed to get anything done while staring into to them. He knew he had trouble thinking when he knew she was looking at him.

"And that question would be?" She asked her voice unforgiving like her eyes.

Swallowing again he wrung his hands together to stop himself from reaching for her, which is something he always had to fight himself on.

"The... your baby... is he, she..." He was a successful prosecutor for God sakes, and now he couldn't form a sentence. When Haley had been pregnant that was easy. She was his, and he hadn't had to fight for that claim. With Emily it was different. She was vastly different from Haley in every way.

But then he couldn't form the word 'mine' so instead settled for a lame gesture at himself.

It seemed as if an eternity could pass in the silent moment that fell between them. Now her eyes were speaking volumes, questions and emotions warring within her. Hotch usually prided himself on being able to read people, being able to pick up their tells and know more about them that they would like to admit. But she was different. She was a closed book, and he couldn't read her anymore than he could read a difficult unsub.

Her hand went to her stomach once more, a readable sign that she was trying to protect the baby that was growing inside her. She opened her mouth to speak, but shook her head. He watched mesmerized as a strand of ebony hair fell across her cheek, and a delicate hand moved up to tuck it back behind her ear.

"Yes." Her whispered voice was small, and his world came crashing down around his ears. Yes. He hated comparing Emily to Haley, but everything was different. He and Haley had tried for years to have a baby. He and Emily had spent 20 minutes together, drunk, and against a door and they had made a baby.

He didn't dare ask her if she was sure. He knew that she wouldn't have said it if it weren't true, and a selfish bout of primal male pride had rose within his chest knowing that he had done that. He pushed that down, and other waves of emotion had hit him. What would they do? How would they raise this baby? Where would they live? Would she want to live with him? Would she accept Jack as her own now?

"_Oh crap, Jack!" _His mind screamed at him. What about his other child?

"I know it's a lot to take in." Her voice had grown from a whisper, and she now resembled the strong woman that he had grown to know and respect. The woman who could take down a man with a kick and handle her own, and shoot a gun.

Inappropriately, a vision of her pointing a gun flashed in his mind and he was slightly aroused by the sight. He'd always thought she looked better with a gun.

Shaking his head to dislodge the vision he listened to her as she continued speaking.

"- expect anything. I know you said we can't let it influence our jobs."

He knew that conversation would come back to bite him in the ass. Sighing inwardly he closed his eyes, and scolded himself for not being honest with her in the first place. He may have been a jerk for a while after Haley's death, but she had always been a shining star for him. She'd come when he called, she'd come if he didn't call, and most of all, she had willingly followed him behind the closed door that night.

That alone was enough to remind him that he was a man. A man lucky enough to have a beautiful woman who wanted to be with him.

But he'd run scared of those feelings. He'd been but a boy when he fell in love with the only other woman who had been in his life, and she but a girl. He knew that what he felt for Emily wasn't love, but it was the predecessor of love. That spark of interest that a man had for a woman which caused him to do silly things. Like take her out to dinner, hold her hand, make love to her.

Every day after he'd wanted to take her hand in his, just to hold her hand. Every time he saw her a bubble of warmth spread through him and a smile rose to his face.

"I don't know what to say." Forget him for a moment, what about his team. What would they say? What would they think? He wanted to be involved in this baby's life, if not for the baby, then selfishly to be in Emily's. He missed her something fierce, and this unexpected pregnancy seemed to be a blessing. Albeit a blessing in disguise.

"There isn't anything to say." She replied easily.

"What about the team? They are going to ask who the father is."

"For now I'll just say that it's someone they don't know. I'm just getting used to the fact that this is me and you Hotch. They might go crazy with that knowledge."

"I know the feeling." He whispered, and at his words a smile rose to her face.

"We'll talk more later. Our friends are profilers, any longer up here and they might start to get suspicious." She winked at him and he nodded quickly, the urge to wink back overwhelming.

"Dinner tonight? My place, I know Jack would love to have you over."

She nodded quickly to the request, and they stood at the same time and he opened the door for her, allowing her to leave his office. So badly he wanted to lay his hand over her belly, to get a sense of the life that was growing there, but he wasn't sure he had the right to. For all he knew he may just be the sperm donor to her child, he didn't know if she wanted him as a father.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Criminal Minds. But you knew that. You are smart aren't you._

_**AN: **Howdy Party PEOPLE!!!_

_So I came up with a name for baby. A few people gave me suggestions, but I had thought of one. Kilgor Trout. Emily is a fan of Kurt Vonnegut and Vonnegut fans will know that Kilgore Trout is one of the main characters from 'Breakfast of Champions'. As far as I've read he's also mentioned in 'Slaughterhouse Five' aka 'The Childrens Crusade'. I don't know how Hotch is going to feel about this, but from this chapter we know that Emily is more concerned with the team not knowing, so I assumed that she figures he'd just go with it. Plus it's a talking point fot her and Morgan._

_Thanks for all the great reviews. I hope you like this installment. (Also, I hope you noticed that March was at the top of the page. That's because I am going to jump through time, to get to the highlights of the story. Plus, I've had one request for 'The Night' *wink wink* if you want to see that too, just let me know.)_

_Happy Hunting y'all!_


	3. Telling Mother

_**"Somebody tries to kill you, you try and kill them right back." - Captain Malcolm Reynolds, (Firefly)**_

_May_

The last time that Emily had been pregnant, she hadn't made it this far along into the pregnancy. Though that had been twenty years ago and she had been but a child herself, not ready to face the thought of becoming her mother.

It was remarkable how alike her situation was with her past, and as she stood in front of the mirror looking at her exposed rounding belly, she lamented over the baby that she had given up those many years ago.

It wasn't often that she thought on that child, a boy or girl? Her straight hair or John's wavy? What kind of personality it would have had, what kind of mother she would be? There were thousands of questions that always ran through her head when she did come to think of that child, all without answers.

Sighing she covered her belly and did up the buttons on her dress shirt. She was meeting her mother at a consulate party to tell her about the pregnancy.

Something's hadn't changed in twenty years.

Even thinking about telling her mother of another unplanned pregnancy scared her like she was still a teenager.

Sighing once more, she left her house and made her way to her car, not enjoying the prospect of facing her mother's un-approving glare. Matthew had been her pillar of strength through that entire episode, and now he was gone she had only herself to lean on.

Well she had Hotch, but that was an entirely different kind of strength. They had been making long strides in their relationship in the last two months, but she was still cautious. When Hotch loved, he loved deep and long, which in itself is a very good thing, but Emily feared that he may still love Haley more than he could ever love her. Perhaps, she'd never asked him, but she was afraid to know.

She was in love with him, and compartmentalised or not, if his feelings weren't close to being the same, she would be heartbroken. Broken as much as he was, or claimed to be. Rationally she knew her heart wasn't demanding a promise of forever, they all knew that forever ended a lot sooner than most thought, nor was she demanding anything permanent.

She was looking for a possibility. The most elusive of all things, was chance. Granted she wanted Hotch, all of him, including Jack, but she would settle for knowing that he was willing to take that journey with her. What he still failed to realise that when Haley died, he hadn't been the only one that had broke.

She smiled, simply thinking of the things that they had done together in the last two months. Though nothing concrete had been decided, she had been spending an awful lot of time at his apartment lately. Not that she minded in the least, Jack always brought a smile to her face, and Hotch brought his own brand of smiles with the little things he did for her. He always took care of things in the kitchen, and when he did allow her to help, he would always have a chair ready, and offer a quick hand if she were to ever falter.

Jack, who was starting to act more and more like Hotch every day, was just as bad, if not worse than his father. Though they had yet to sit him down and explain that her baby was his daddy's baby, who made them his little brother or sister, the small boy was very over protective of her. There were times when he would follow her around, offering her his stuffed dinosaur teddy, George, for a companion, and the hugs he offered were always soft and gentle.

The sweetest times with Jack were when it was just the two of them, watching a movie or playing and he would up and stop and lay a hand on her rounding belly and be quiet, a look on concentration come over his face. She hadn't asked him what he was doing, the small moments lasting only a minute or two each time, but her heart warmed for her baby knowing that they were going to have a wonderful big brother.

Pulling into the circular driveway of the Greek consulate she stopped her car and handed the keys to the valet, a young man who didn't look old enough to drive a car, let alone drive them professionally. Forcing a smile to her face she placed her hand over her belly and whispered words to her baby.

"It's okay Kilgore, she may seem scary but your grandmother really isn't so bad." The words, _"I think." _Floated through her mind, as a real smile graced her face, hope springing in her that her mother would realise that she, Emily, would be fine.

"Hold please." A uniformed security guard held up a hand and stepped in front of her. "Name?"

"Emily Prentiss." Her mother had warned her that there would be a security check at the door, but out of habit she had strapped on her sidearm and brought along her FBI badge. Granted it was mandatory that they carry both of those pieces of hardware with them everywhere they went, it had felt odd to place the gun on her hip next to her dress suit.

"ID?" The guard asked gruffly.

She held out her ID badge and the guard's demeanour instantly changed. "Sorry Agent Prentiss, but I'm going to have to ask you to hold your gun in a safe that we will provide you."

Offering the man a smile, she followed him to a wall that was behind a metal detector and placed her gun into the safe. Feeling suddenly naked and exposed, she followed the rest of the steps and moved into the dining area of the party and looked for her mother.

After a few minutes Emily spotted her mother and moved towards her. Luckily she was currently sitting alone, and Emily thanked whoever was responsible for that, knowing that all she had to say would be said with her mother's first glance of her.

"Hello Mother." She said, her real smile having faded back into a forced smile.

"Emily darling is that," She had spun and stood, a huge smile plastered on her face, which fell as her eyes raked over the baby bump, "-a baby?" Her voice, which had started out its strong alto, faded into a stunned whisper.

Instead of speaking, for fear she had lost her voice, she nodded, once again fighting the irrational need to fight her way to an escape.

"How did this happen?" They had both sat, and were facing each other, a safe distance from each other. Hotch had said it best, her mother was imposing.

"Um, well, see when a man and-"Emily had thought it best to start with a joke, but her mother cut her off, her stern voice back in command.

"Do not get sarcastic with me young lady."

"Yes ma'am."

"You know what I meant."

Emily nodded again, and shook head, fighting the other host of sarcastic comments that rose to her lips. Her mother was often a serious woman, and Emily found it hard to get along with that seriousness. She loved her mother, fiercely and of that, there was no doubt, but their personalities though very similar often didn't align.

"Sorry mother. Well, I don't exactly know what to say." She didn't. She knew that he mother wanted to ask of the father, she had refused to tell her parents 20 years ago, and she would refuse to tell them this time. At least until she and Hotch had got a few things worked out between them. Though she was hesitant, she would love to have Hotch, and Jack, in this baby's life.

"Well obviously you are keeping it, but what about a father. The father, where is this man? I know you won't tell me you the scoundrel is, you have always been fond of your secrets, but what is his opinion on the matter?" Emily sighed, and for the first time in a long while reached for her mother's hand.

"He's not a scoundrel mother, he is a nice man. I've told him that I am keeping the baby, and he knows that I don't expect anything from him," How true this was, but that truth didn't stop images of her, Hotch, Jack and the baby being a family. "But it was a one night stand; we need to see if we can have a relationship, before we dive into being a family."

Her mother simply nodded, and withdrew her hand from Emily's grip. Had she been anyone else, she might have been offended, but Emily knew that her mother wasn't fond of public displays of affection.

They lapsed into a silence, looking opposite directions, each thinking private thoughts on the matter. As Emily turned back to look at her mother, she heard the sound of automatic gunfire, and reacting on instinct she jumped and pushed her mother to the ground, covering her mother's body with her own.

Screams pierced the air, and through the chaos Emily saw the body of the uniformed guard drop, blood and holes riddling the front of his uniform.

Slowly Emily got to her knees and lifted herself enough to see what was going on. People were running from the three men who had entered, each carrying automatic rifles and had three handguns on their person.

Pushing down the panic that was rising in her, Emily cursed the little safe that held her gun, and ran her mind through what she could do.

The men were going around the room collecting ID's and cell phones, placing them all in a bag that they had evidentially brought with them.

Pulling out her own blackberry she quickly took pictures of their unmasked faces and sent the jpegs to Garcia, with the quickly typed message, "Facial Recognition for VICAP. You'll know soon enough."

"Mother, under no circumstance are they to know that I am FBI." Her mother nodded as Emily quickly pinned her ID badge to the underside of the table, just as the men came around.

"Cell phones and ID in the bag now." The accent of the man holding the bag out to them was thick and as far as Emily could tell Eastern European, which didn't do anything for her.

Quickly standing they complied and placed their hands on their heads and were herded to where the other quests were standing in the same fashion.

One of the men sneered and pushed a waiter around, and Emily took a small step in his direction to go beat the guy up.

"Emily don't." Her mother's voice cautioned in a whisper. "Don't be a hero."

"I wasn't going to be a hero. I was just going to do my job." Anger boiled within her, knowing that her mother was probably right. She didn't have a gun, there were three of them, and she was pregnant. Hotch was probably going to kill her. As were the rest of her team, even though this was clearly not her fault.

"Yes, and as I understand it you and your team are hero's. Your job right now is to be the damsel in distress and let some other knight be the hero."

"Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt." The second man's voice sounded vastly different from the firsts, and oddly American. "You do as we say, and you will get out of this alive."

The third, whose was another eastern European accent, picked up the consulates phone and dialed a number, and after a few seconds spoke into the receiver, "I have taken over the Greek consulate. I would like to speak to the FBI."

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Criminal Minds. Which is cool. Not really, but I'm starting to be okay with it._

_**AN:** Kavi, did you get your shout out? I hope you did._

_I think I scared a lot of readers last chapter saying I was going to actually name the baby Kilgore Trout. How mean would that be? No, that is just it's nickname, while Em is preggers with it. I still haven't decided if it's to be a boy or a girl. I've read stories where they have a girl, I've read where they have a boy. I've read where they have twins and both! No, I dunno. I don't know if it's going to be a boy or girl, I have no preference at this point, so what do you guys want. For the first ten reviews that choose a gender, I'll take those and take the average. (Then that means there could be an even amount and like 'Survivor' that would lead to a fire challenge. No baby should have to do a fire challenge, so we'll change it to the first nine reviews with a gender.)_

_Happy hunting to all._


	4. Gunfight or No Gunfight?

**_"Cause we belong together now, yeah. Forever united here somehow, yeah. You gotta piece of me and honestly. My life (my life), would suck (would suck), without you." - Glee Cast (My Life Would Suck Without You)_**

Aaron Hotchner wasn't a person that tended to fidget. Though if one were to look at him now, they would have to seriously disagree. His knee bounced up and down, expending the abundant energy that was flowing through him, and the end of his pen drummed against the desk top, releasing the tension built up in him.

He wasn't normally a tense and irritable person either, but with Emily out of his sight for the entire day, he'd suddenly become an anger ball, and very short with his friends. They had mostly avoided him, and he was thankful for that. Naturally overprotective of his team anyway, Emily and the baby had kicked all of that into overdrive, especially with their job.

He knew she could take care of herself, but he really liked to have her under his eye, and if not his at least Morgan's or Rossi's. Though it wasn't his place to ask her to take one of them along wherever she went, nor was it his place to ask them to do it, he knew that they watched over her as much as he did. But the fact that he knew that both of his friends were currently in their offices had increased that tension as Emily was away.

She'd asked for the personal day to go meet her mother who was in town for a luncheon, and he'd complied quickly, not thinking that he'd go crazy when she wasn't around. He knew that he was overbearing on cases, and even when not out in the field, having her call him, or calling her to ensure she was safe. He could claim the baby and be written off as truth, but he knew that he was lying. He cared for Emily deeply. Not just as Agent Prentiss, his friend and co-worker, but Emily the passionate woman whom his son loved, and the woman whose presence alone could turn his head, and send his heart racing.

The knock at his door startled him and he jumped slightly as Garcia stood in the entrance to his doorway.

"Yes Garcia?" He had swallowed the momentary fear and stopped his pen from twiddling. His knee kept moving, hidden by his desk.

"Where's Miss Emily?" Garcia had brought her laptop with her, and she looked tenser than he felt.

Standing quickly he waved her into the room, and as she took fast steps towards him, his feeling of apprehension grew. He hoped she was somewhere safe.

"At the Greek Consulate with her mother for a luncheon. What's wrong?"

Just as she rounded the corner of his desk his phone rang, and he picked it up, hoping that what the person on the other end was interested in wouldn't take very long. If Garcia was coming to him, it couldn't be a positive situation.

"Hotchner." Even his voice was tense.

"Is this Agent Aaron Hotchner of the Behavioural Analysis Unit?" The voice on the other end was a gruff, deep baritone with a Greek accent. An ominous feeling overcame Hotch, and his heart took a swan dive and started racing once more.

"It is."

"My name is Takis Kappas and I represent the Greek Government. We currently have a situation at our consulate in Washington and the hostage takers are requesting the FBI." _Hostage takers?_ His body secreted large amounts of adrenaline and he had to fight the urge to drop the phone and run to Emily and rescue her.

Instead he covered the mouth piece and whispered, "Garcia get the rest of the team in here now." She dropped her laptop on his desk, turned and ran from the room, the panic he felt evident on her face.

"You have an Agent Emily Prentiss, yes?"

"That's correct." He turned the screen and saw three slightly blurring images of men holding automatic rifles, and what looked to be frightened citizens.

"She is in the room with the men. Now the consulate is on Greek soil, but we are requesting that you handle the negotiations considering your Agent present. Can you do this for us?"

As his team quickly entered the room, he agreed still fighting the urge to run to Emily. He was just starting to realise he had something to lose with her; he didn't want to lose it before he had it.

"I have a technical analyst, Penelope Garcia; can she have permission to comb your official records to get us help in identifying and profiling these men?"

"Of course, anything you need to end this peacefully. Four other consulates have been taken hostage already and we need to know what these men want before anymore of our citizens are in danger."

"Okay, I'm on my way to the consulate; I will give you Garcia to get all the pertinent information about your operating systems. Thank you Mr. Kappas, you'll be hearing from me in an hour with a status update."

Handing the phone to Garcia he walked out the door of his office and gestured to his team to follow him.

"Hotch what's going on?" Morgan questioned him, even though they were already following him.

"Hostage situation at the Greek Consulate." He said the words tersely, hoping that they wouldn't question his burning desire to go get Emily safe.

"Isn't that where Emily is?" JJ's voice had instantly filled with concern, and as they all filed into the elevator, Hotch hit the button for the parking garage, and waited for the doors to slide shut before he answered.

"Yep." He could feel the despair in his words, and he prayed that they would get there in time to save her. He couldn't lose another woman that was important to him.

*

Seven hours, and one gunshot later, they had a plan to shut these three men down. Morgan and an off duty guard of the consulate had snuck in through the roof, and found a way into the luncheon room that would be unnoticed, and safe without alerting the Unsubs to what was to happen.

They had heard that three more consulates around the world had been hit, and of the total eight, there's was the last to be held. To the west the sun was setting, and these men had to know that there plan had gone south, and there was no chance of their demands being met.

The only thing that scared Hotch was the fact that the profile read that they would go down shooting. Never before had he hoped that the profile was wrong, as he hoped it was now. Gun fights meant trouble, and trouble meant innocent people could end up dead. Innocent people like Emily.

Through his conversations with the lead Unsub, Hotch had tried to indicate what was to happen, but he wasn't sure how much the men were relaying to each other, or if it were in a language she would understand.

Standing at the main door to the consulate, which had already been picked and ready to bust through, with his Kevlar vest on, gun in hand and best friend at his side, Hotch spoke into his wrist mike, knowing that their plan was a gong show, and exceddingly dangerous considering all of the people inside who could get caught in the crossfire.

"Morgan are you two in place?"

"Yeah, Hotch." Came the whispered reply.

Speaking into his mike once again, he took a deep breath, hoping and praying once more that Emily would get through this okay. He hoped they all would get through it okay, but more so Emily.

"All teams on my count."

He looked over at Rossi, everything in him fearing for her life. His friend seemed to understand his pain and simply nodded, signalling that everything would be all right. Looking behind him JJ nodded as well, the fear in check on her face, knowing that one of her best friends was there in danger.

"3. 2. 1, go."

What Hotch had expected to be a show-down of power and grit had come to a screeching halt, their three Unsubs kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their heads and weapons laid out before them, all unloaded and with safety's on.

As his gun was trained on the men, his eyes scanned the room for Emily. JJ had bypassed him and moved straight for her. As the women embraced, Hotch angrily turned back to the men. His body had been primed for a fight and suddenly there was too much adrenaline in his body, causing his eye to twitch.

Taking his right hand off his gun he pressed at the offending muscle, hoping that it would stop. He could still see Emily out of the corner of his eye, and he desperately wanted to move to her and take her into his arms to reassure himself that she was indeed safe and unharmed.

Placing his hand back on his gun he covered the men while two of the guards and two of the metro PD handcuffed them, and took them away. Only when he knew that they were safely out of the consulate, and all the guns where secured did he move to Emily.

She was standing hugging her mother, JJ close by and another uniform taking her statement. As he neared she caught his eye over her mother's shoulder and smiled at him, mouthing the words, 'We're okay.' He nodded at her silent greeting and restrained himself from taking her into his arms right then and there. He could feel every cell in his body reaching for her, but he kept his hands clasped behind his back, afraid that he would reach for her.

He wished for the first time that the team knew of their situation. If they knew that he and Emily had made a baby he was sure that they would be all right with him holding her. Though in the back of his head he knew the move would be purely selfish, though he was concerned with her well being, he wanted her in his arms for his sake, not hers.

"Okay," JJ started, in her most attention commanding voice, "we are going to the hospital."

"What? No. I'm fine. I don't have a scratch on me. I feel fine. Hotch," she turned her dark eyes on him, and though he wanted to agree with her, just to appease her, it was Bureau protocol for any agent in these situations to go to the hospital at their conclusion. It didn't help though that when she turned her deep chocolate eyes at him he melted into a puddle of goo. And that was just a normal day. "Tell her I don't have to go."

"I'm sorry Prentiss," He hated that he still had to call her that, "bureau protocol. Besides, the stress probably wasn't good for your baby. You should go, just to be safe." He'd done so well keeping his tone in check, he almost believed that he had only Emily and the baby's best interests at heart, and not his own peace of mind.

"See Emily, this is the kind of man that you should have chosen as your baby's father." Elizabeth Prentiss voice reached him, and Hotch almost chocked on the breath he was pulling in.

Catching Emily's eyes widened in surprise he swallowed his cough and turned away from them.

He took a step away from them and as mother and daughter said goodbyes JJ stepped towards him to give them privacy in their moment alone. She was looking at him with a funny look on her face, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she was doing some hard math in her head.

"What?" He asked, arranging his face so it was neutral.

"Nothing." She said with a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Something." He replied.

"She's right you know." He loved JJ as a sister, and even took joy in the fact that Jack often referred to her as Aunty JJ, but sometimes he got annoyed with her as he would have if she really was his sister. She was more of a profiler than she ever let on, and in this moment he felt that she was profiling him. Well he knew that she was, but that was of little consequence. He kept his face impassive as she continued to speak. "You and Emily would make one heck of a baby."

Choosing silence and tight facial muscles he didn't move until Emily walked towards them, when he started towards the exit and his Suburban. JJ gave him a slight smirk, and walked on ahead of him, leaving him to walk behind her with Emily by his side.

He didn't know what JJ's intentions had been leaving him like that. But he didn't care. It had given him a private moment alone with Emily as chaos reigned around them.

"You'll come over tonight, right?" He asked, feeling a trace of vulnerability come into his voice.

Surreptitiously she squeezed his hand, and nodded, letting go of his hand as quick as she took it, and continued to follow him outside. He was thankful for her presence beside him, and the warmth that her hand grabbing his had created moved to his heart, relieving some of the pain of almost losing her had created.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **Do I have to do this again?_

_**AN: **So as it stands now, the vote is currently at Boys 2, Girls 1. Twins 1. I am taking twins off the table. With the abortion her pregnancy is, by and large, a minor miracle. So we'll say that it's just going to be one baby. That way little Jack will have a little less to be jealous off. Because we all know what a new baby is like. _

_Well all of us who aren't only children. Or the baby. _

_Wait, I'm the baby, I have no younger siblings. (Funny story. I have four step siblings who are all at least 18 years older than me. One of my step-nephews is a year older than me. Awesome right.)_

_Anyways, what was I talking about? Oh right. Hotch and Em's baby. So we'll say the vote is at Boys-3 and Girls-2. (Since the vote for twins was one of each.) Only four more votes left._

_Shoot me a review. I like them._

_Happy Hunting to all._


	5. Stay?

"_**Don't it always seem to go: You don't know what you've got until it's gone." – Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Taxi)**_

"So what did he say?" Hotch had felt the tension leave his body slowly since he'd gotten Emily to the hospital. She was indeed fine, minus the pouting on the way, and JJ was with her as her OBGYN did some final checking on the baby.

Since she had to undress for most of her exams, he'd been regulated to the hallway and his blackberry to get Morgans notes on how the interrogations went. He'd complied quickly from the look Emily had given him, and left them alone. Not that he hadn't seen _all _of Emily before but JJ didn't know that, so he'd left to protect Emily's privacy on the issue.

"He said that they weren't interested in killing innocent people, just the ones who got in their way. No one at the consulate fought back, which is strange because Prentiss was there, so once they learned that the rest of their team had failed, giving up was the only option." Morgan's voice held his anger at the men for endangering Emily, and to Hotch it sounded as he felt.

Emily was safe, but he still was angry.

"Did they say why they did it?" He knew that the why didn't matter, even though they had a good guess, but in this instance it was important.

"Yeah, the two brothers had a third brother and he is in a Greek prison for the rest of his life. They wanted to spring him loose, and as Garcia so aptly put it, they weren't smart enough to go Michael Scofield on them, so they did the next best thing." Hotch didn't know who Michael Scofield was, but the next best thing was never taking people hostage.

"Right."

"How's Prentiss?"

"Arguing with the doctors." _But she is safe, _his mind added.

Morgan chuckled, and added "Usual. But she's fine? The baby too?"

"Yeah, the doctor said she's fine and the baby is fine too."

"Okay then Hotch, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye Morgan. Good work today."

As they both hung up, Hotch took a deep breath and started back towards where he'd left Emily and JJ. He didn't know what to think, what to do or what to say. His mind was a flurry of activity where the major thought process was how close he had been to losing Emily.

He was still close to losing her, by not acting on his feelings. But he was scared. Scared that she too would leave him and never come back. When he had married Haley they had promised in their vows to love each other until death do them part, but that hadn't worked out and they'd fallen out of love. He couldn't pin-point where or when it had happened, nor could he even remember when he'd stopped being in love with her.

He loved Haley something fierce, but he'd stopped being in love with her some time before their divorce.

She had been alive, and still she'd left him. He was afraid the same thing would happen with Emily. It was hard to have a child with a woman who no longer loved you.

Though he wasn't sure exactly what his feelings for Emily were, he couldn't imagine her not in his life. He knew that whenever he thought of her in danger, his heart ached. Knew that when she smiled at him he always smiled back, knew that when she was around his day always got that much brighter, but he didn't know if that was love.

"Hey Hotch." JJ's voice startled him as his feet carried him towards them of their own violation, and he looked up to see her smiling face.

"So they are both okay?" He still felt like her was losing her, like sand slipping through his fingers, going faster the harder he tried to hold on.

"Yeah, she's just getting dressed now." JJ's voice had taken a note of compassion and without warning she had wrapped her arms around his and held him in an awkward hug. "She'll be fine Hotch. They'll be fine."

Confused he awkwardly patted her back, and replied, "I know JJ."

They stood that way for a while, until she finally pulled away from him. "What was that for?"

"Nothing. Can't a girl hug her friend in a time of trouble?" Her voice was filled with mirth, and she had cocked an eyebrow at him.

His own eyebrow raising, he just shook his head as Emily stepped out of the room she had been in, fully dressed and looking a lot happier than she had when they got there.

"Please, can we leave now? I hate hospitals." Hotch offered a weak smile in return to her words, and once more fought the urge to take her in his arms. He watched as JJ linked their arms and took off down the hallway, heading towards the exit, leaving him to follow behind them. Reaching up he loosened his tie, and sighed, as he followed them.

*

After dropping JJ off at the office, ensuring she was safe in her vehicle and driving away, Hotch started towards Jessica's house, needing to pick up Jack from his long day at his aunts.

"I just need to quickly get Jack, and then we'll head over to my place." He looked at her and she nodded, staring out the window. Desperately he wanted to reach across the console and take her hand in his, needing to touch her and reassure himself that she was indeed really there and safe in his truck.

Instead he dutifully kept his hands on the steering wheel, and watched her out of the corner of his eye. Despite being held hostage, which wasn't something new, she seemed the picture of health. Perhaps it was simply the glow pregnant women had, or perhaps it was the way she had a hand rested on her stomach, and the small smile that she wore. He didn't know what caused her to look this way, and he wouldn't question it. Simply seeing her happy made him happy.

"You should come in." He started as they had reached Jessica's. "Jack would love for you to come in." Jack had already fallen in love with Emily, and if the way she instantly undid her seat belt and got out of the truck, she loved him too.

She was a natural mother, he had seen it countless times with children they encountered in the field, and as the realization hit him following her up the stone path to his sister-in-laws house, a bubble of warmth spread through him. Unplanned or not, he was thankful that she was finally getting the child that she would lavish with love. The fact that it was with him was also another minor miracle.

"Jack, where are you?" He called into the house as he entered, holding the door open for Emily.

"Daddy!" His son's voice filled him with love and joy and as he ran and jumped into his arms, knocking the breath out of his lungs, Hotch hadn't a care in the world.

"Hey buddy, how are you?" He asked, placing his son on the ground.

"Good." Suddenly aware that Emily was standing behind Hotch, Jack's eyes lit up and he practically screamed in Hotch's ear, "Miss Em'ly."

As his son wiggled out of his arms, Hotch released him and moved further into the house to find Jessica. She met him still in the foyer and offered him a quiet greeting as she gestured behind him to Jack and Emily. His son had taken to being gentle and quiet around her, even without them having to ask, and the sight before him made his heart swell for both his son and Emily.

Jack grabbed Emily's hand and tugged it softly, pulling her down to his level, then almost as if he was afraid to hurt her with a hug he delicately wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her cheek. He could see the smile plastered on Emily's face and could almost swear that a tear slipped from her eye.

Suddenly feeling intrusive on their private moment he turned to Jessica who was no longer smiling at them, but at him. He had told her what happened, and why he was going to be late, but she didn't know that the baby Emily carried was his, though from the way she was looking at him Hotch had to assume that she was making that leap without any assistance from him.

"What?"

"She's quite a woman this 'Miss Em'ly'." His sister-in-laws voice was light and mischievous as she once again turned her gaze to them. Hotch's eyes followed to see that Jack had laid his hands on her stomach, something he had even yet to do.

"That she is." He agreed with almost a whisper. If only Jessica knew half of the truth that swirling around his heart.

After a few more minutes talk, the three of them left and made their way towards his apartment. Jack and Emily talked animatedly the whole way, while Hotch let himself listen to their conversation, his urge to take her hand across the console almost overpowering once more. The drive wasn't long, and instead of taking his hand, Jack took Emily's and swinging them, they walked ahead of him which seemed to be the theme of the day.

They stood together at the door, waiting for him hands still swinging, smiles all over their face. After unlocking the door, and turning off his alarm, he let them both in where promptly Jack dropped Emily's hand and ran towards his room with a squeal of delight.

All at once, with the door closed and with a semi private moment at hand, Hotch decided being strong was for the weak, and gave into his urges. He pulled Emily to him and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He could feel the sigh escape him as she returned his embrace.

Without thinking he kissed her. It was vastly different to their first, and last, kiss of that night, and Hotch could feel that he'd taken her by surprise. She had yet to respond to his lips on hers and just as he was about to pull away, she kissed him back sending a whole new thrill through him. Lengthening the kiss, he pulled away only when Jack's voice called from somewhere in the apartment.

Resting his forehead against hers, eyes still closed he breathed out deeply, his entire being aware of the fact that she was fine.

"I'm sorry Emily." He whispered to her, one hand on her lower back holding her tightly and the other tangled in the hair beside her ear.

He could feel her hands on the nape of his neck, and her breath on his lips as she replied, "Don't be."

"Daddy, Em'ly, where are you?" Jack's voice reached them, as he made his presence in the living room known.

They moved apart quickly, and turned to Jack at the same time, "We are right here buddy." He said loudly, hoping to dispel the disappointment from losing Emily in his arms.

"Can I watch a movie in your room Daddy?" Jack was holding his stuffed dinosaur, a grotesquely orange stegosaurus, whose name was George. The name had never bothered him before, but since that day he always heard Jack's voice ask him _'Is George a bad guy?'. _He knew that Jack didn't make the connection, but it always sent a shiver through his spine.

"Sure."

"Can Em'ly come with me?" He asked his bright eyes hopeful.

"You have to ask her." He replied and instantly Jack bounced to her stopping before he ran into her and gently taking her hand once more.

"Wanna watch a movie with me in Daddy's room?"

Emily's eyes turned to him and he nodded once, aware of the fact that she was going to be in his bed to watch the movie. He wasn't thinking about it in a sexual way, just that he would join them after he made them some dinner, and that they would be in his bed together.

"Sure I can Jack." She answered and he bounced once, but stopped when he realised he was still holding her hand. "Let's go."

**

Emily was glad that she had seen the movie Jack had chosen before. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to listen to him, watch the movie and think about what had happened to her today.

She'd told her mother and didn't feel like a scolded teenager. She'd been held hostage and made it out alive. Been kissed thoroughly good by Hotch, and spent a wonderful evening with the Hotchner men.

Now as she lay in his bed, wearing his pyjamas, her mind was whirring thinking through the day. Hotch had asked her to stay and the look on his face had spurred her on to agree. Though she had assumed he meant that they would share his bed, which if she were honest, was something she had greatly wanted to do, disappointed she had also agreed when he forced her to take his bed while he would sleep in the living room.

Surrounded by his smell in his clothes and bed, she wanted desperately to go to him and drag him back to bed with her. Not in a sexual way, just to have him close while she slept. She had almost lost him, and Jack, today and she was suddenly aware of the fact that she didn't want to lose them.

She had known that before, but today's events conspired against her into wanting to be near Hotch whenever she could.

"Oh dear." A strange sensation came over her stomach and a thrill of anticipation over took her. It happened again, and a small laugh came out of her mouth, realising that her baby was kicking for the first time.

"Hotch." She called out the open door in a whisper, hoping that he would hear her from so far away.

The kicks subsided for a moment, and she desperately wanted Hotch to feel this so she pleaded with her baby, "Keep kicking Kilgore, daddy's coming."

"'Kilgore'? You call our baby 'Kilgore'?" She hadn't heard him approach, and his sudden whisper startled her, which sent another wave of kicks through her abdomen.

"Shut up, the baby is kicking, get over here."

She heard him move quickly, and felt the bed shift as he climbed into it. A feeling of absolute rightness came over her as Hotch sat close to her and placed one of his large hands on her stomach. The baby kicked a few more times, then evidently decided to stop, as the motions stopped.

They sat that way for a while in the quiet, each with a hand to her stomach, and her leaning against his shoulder. The domestic moment felt so good that Emily never wanted it to end. Eventually it did though, as he pulled away from her, and started to get off the bed.

Acting on instinct and moving before she could change her mind, she reached across the darkness of the room and with one try grabbed his hand.

"Please stay Aaron." His given name left her lips instantly, and it too, felt natural to say. She wondered if he got a thrill out of it, the same she did whenever he called her 'Emily'.

He didn't say anything, but through the moonlight filtering in through the window she could see his face, a mask of emotions as he stood still for what seemed an eternity.

She feared that he would leave, go back to his couch, but as he let go of her hand and moved back towards her, pulling the covers back and sliding under them, anticipation shot through her. She wasn't expecting anything, but as he laid his body right next to hers, she instantly felt warmer than she had ever been before.

His left arm was under her head and wrapped around her chest holding onto her right arm, holding her back to his chest tightly. His right arm was draped over her hip, and his hand had slipped under her borrowed t-shirt, laying flat against her stomach. Her hand covered his, and their fingers entwined, as she moved one of her feet back to tangle with his.

She felt his lips press a small kiss to her shoulder blade, and without any movement or words she drifted off to sleep, in his arms, his bed and with him in her heart.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **No. I'm not saying it again. _

_**AN:** So here you go. I know this will probably disappoint a lot of you, but don't worry, you'll get your... you know what._

_As for the night, I've decided that I will post that when I am done this story. _

_The baby is a girl. By the way. But they don't know that, Hotch and Em, I mean. SO please don't tell them. Thanks._

_Happy hunting y'all. (Oh yeah, throw your hunting spears at that little green button and spear my up a review. Please and thank you.)_


	6. Follow Your Heart

_**"You know what the first rule of flying is?... Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just a sure as a turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down. Tell you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home." - Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Serenity)**_

_June_

"JJ, I need to tell you something." Emily started her voice barely above a whisper.

It was six months into her pregnancy, and three months since she'd told her best friend, it was about time she told her who the father was.

Though Emily knew this wasn't about actually telling her friend the truth about her baby's father, it was to get her opinion on what she should do about her situation with Hotch. Unfortunately, to get that help JJ had to know the whole truth about their entire situation, because she couldn't open her question with _'I'm in love with our boss, I'm carrying his baby, how do I make him love me, without feeling like I've trapped him?'. _

That might work, now that she thought of it.

"Yeah." Her blond friend answered in her normal voice attracting the attention of the guys who were currently sitting at the other end of the plane.

"Shh." She waved her hands at JJ, who looked at her if she was crazy. Which she felt she might be.

"Oh, so we're whispering now?" Emily nodded fervently, and waved away the looks of Morgan and Reid who were busy arguing over some mindless trivia. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Hotch and Rossi were deep in conversation near the front of the plane and hadn't noticed JJ's outburst of volume.

"What's up?"

"What I'm going to say can't, I repeat, cannot leave this area." She gestured largely around them, hoping that she painted the image of a large bubble in her friends mind.

"O-kay. Emily, just tell me, I can keep a secret you know."

Now that she had the opening, Emily didn't know how to start. The beginning would be the best, but that part of the story was complicated. She still didn't know how she had ended up in that position, and worse she didn't understand how it had happened.

She had wanted him plain and simple, but never had she expected him to want her, or for either of them to act on it in that primal way. Visions of his body pressed against hers flashed through her mind and desire coursed through her remembering every feel of his touch.

"It's about my baby's father." She finally voice, the thoughts fading, echoes of his touch still rolling through her.

JJ's eyes flashed to the back of the plane where Hotch was sitting with Rossi and a small smile lined her face.

"What was that?" Panic spread through her, wondering if JJ could possibly know.

"Nothing." Emily knew it was so not nothing.

Deciding to ignore the fact that JJ just looked at him and lied about her reasons, she leaned closer to her friend and pointed over her shoulder in Hotch's general direction, "Do you think he and I... you know?"

"Are you trying to tell me you and he haven't... you know?" JJ, too, leaned closer, and her words forced Emily back.

She knew. Her best friend knew, and hadn't the audacity to confront her about it. _"Stop it Emily." _Her mind shouted, _"You're just being paranoid."_

"I'm not... I just... I..." She trailed off lamely, not able to form the words of discouragement to fend her friend off. She knew this was her opening to talk, but never had she imagined that JJ would already know. Did the rest of them know? She was starting to panic even more.

"You what? Please don't even try to pretend that you aren't head over heels in love with the man. All anyone has to do is look at the way you act around him and they would know. Even Reid has noticed, and that's saying something." If she was that transparent she seriously needed to re-evaluate the way she'd been acting.

Sure she smiled when he walked into the room, and maybe she sat closer to him than most people. So what if, on occasion, she liked to work on a case with him alone, or if she were having a bad day, it was him she looked to for comfort. Friends did that right? Friends who weren't in love with each other.

"_Friends don't share a bed every other night or have babies together." _Her mind argued, and she felt has if she was having a dissociative personality episode.

"Really?" Was all she could muster in response to JJ's words.

"Mmhmm, girl it's as plain as the way he is totally falling in love with you." He couldn't be falling in love with her. She would have noticed it with all the time she spent with him. He was just taking care of her to take care of the baby. Made her breakfast and dinner for the baby.

Ran to the store in the middle of the night to get her ice cream for the baby.

"You've been spending too much time with Garcia." Was all she could say. She couldn't form a coherent argument

"That's probably true. But Emily, honey seriously, and be absolutely honest with me. Is Hotch the father?"

Emily's thumb immediately went to her mouth in what had become a nervous habit. She chewed the nail for a second before nodding, and to surprise JJ's eyes widened, and she once again bent towards her.

"Are you serious?" JJ's hushed whisper was riddle with surprise and her voice conveyed disbelief at her words.

"You mean you didn't know?" Though she was shocked that she had revealed it that quickly, a large weight lifted off her chest and she felt a strange sense of peace settle about herself.

"Well I assumed that much since you refused to name a name for Morgan, but I didn't think you would keep that from me. Oh my god, you need to tell me how this happened." JJ's voice was filled with joy as she spoke very quickly, blue eyes alight with some emotion that Emily couldn't read.

"The Christmas party." Was all she said. She wouldn't go into the details, afraid that her body, like it had a hundred times before, demand a repeat performance from him. Goodness knows her mind had relived it so many times no detail would be left out should she decided to tell the story.

JJ's eyebrows shot up, and Emily leaned back in her chair, small amounts of pain beginning to flair in her lower back.

"The Christmas Party? Really. Kind of cliché don't you think?"

Emily just nodded. She would most definitely not reveal the fact that it had started with mistletoe and a shared glass of scotch. That was even more cliché.

"Has anything happened since?"

Emily knew that JJ was talking about sex. Much to her dismay, nothing like that had happened between them since that one time. There had been moments, when they were laying bed together, which Emily still didn't understand, that she had wanted to make love to him, but nothing ever happened. She was sure too, that there had been times when Hotch had wanted it, softly touching her or pressing a kiss to her shoulder as they cuddled while they slept.

And almost every morning he made a hasty retreat to the bathroom as soon as he woke up, but that never stopped her from noticing the bulge that ungracefully appeared in his pants.

They hadn't even kissed, really kissed, since that one time after the consulate.

"No." She could feel the disappointment flow through her, just thinking about how much she longed to be in his arms once more. "That's what I wanted to talk about."

"So talk."

She blew out a long breath, bracing herself for the flow of emotions that inevitably followed this train of thought. Normally excellent at placing everything in neat little boxes like a waffle, where Hotch was concerned she was starting to feel more and more like spaghetti.

"I do love him. I loved him long before this baby. That night, no words can describe what I felt that night, nor the way I was crushed when he said it couldn't happen again. I take a small comfort that he didn't say that it was a mistake.

"Then after the consulate he seemed... afraid to let me out of his sight. That night I went home with him. The first thing he did when we were alone was hold me so tight to him, and kiss me. Oh JJ, my heart soared, it felt lighter than it had in some time, but the rest of the night he kept a safe distance.

"When I said I should get going, he practically begged me not to, I just couldn't leave him. The fear in his eyes that I was leaving scared me a little. So I stayed. Jack and I finished our movie, and I gave him a bath, at his request, and put him to bed. Going back to Hotch's room, he had laid out a set of pyjamas for me, even turned down the bed, but he also told me that he would sleep on the couch.

"Then the baby kicked for the first time. Which by the way, best feeling in the world, anyways I called him and he came, and we felt the first kicks of our baby. Our baby JJ, me and Hotch. He had been so close, and after the kicks had stopped he moved out of the bed, but it was my turn to ask that he stay, which he did. That was the first night I slept in his bed, and since then I've stayed at his house, in his bed, in his arms, more often than not."

Emily paused there, to brace herself for what she knew as the real issue. JJ had nodded with her, made all the right faces and said all the comforting words at the right spots, but so far that had been just a story.

"I'm afraid that if anything happens now, it will be because of the baby. I want to fall in love, not fall in pregnant. More importantly I want him to love me, for me, not because I am carrying his baby."

Falling into silence, she turned her gaze out the window and took in the sight. They were flying home, and her window seat had a very nice few of a sunset. There were no clouds to speak of, and the horizon was flat and dark as the sky was speckled with deep hues of purple blue and golden rays from the sun.

She heard some words from Rossi, and Hotch's soft chuckled filled the air, sending a thrill of longing through her. She really wanted to have a life with Hotch, but she realised that he would need to come to those ideas on his own. She wanted a life with him, not a situation he was forced into.

Though she knew that no matter what happened between them, he would do right by his child. He was a man of high morals, which is what attracted her to him in the first place. He had strong beliefs, a great capacity to love, and as evident between him and Jack, he was a phenomenal father. All of these things reassured her that her baby would have its father, and deepened her love for him.

"Emily, whatever is going to happen between the two of you, has already started. Was already started long before you ever got pregnant. Hotch is one of those guys that is around for the long haul, when he loves, and believe me, he loves you, he loves hard. Not letting go, until it's absolutely never going to come back. Haley left him Emily, and still he fought hard, risked his life and almost died defending her.

"No matter what your head is saying, you are going to have to follow your heart on this one, and forget the fact that you are having his baby. Just because you two hopped on the good foot and did the bad thing and got knocked up, sorry for the language, doesn't change the fact that you ended up together like that."

"I know but-"

"Let me finish. Eventually it was going to happen, trust me. So you messed up the order normal people go in, if it's what brings you together, then it's a good thing."

JJ too fell into silence and they sat that way for the rest of the flight.

When they had landed, JJ stood and wrapped her arms around Emily who was thankful for the hug, even if the circumstances weren't exactly perfect.

"You will be fine Emily. You are strong, a lot stronger than I think you give yourself credit for. So remember, follow your heart."

With that, the blonde dropped her arms and followed Rossi, Reid and Morgan off the plane leaving her with Hotch, who stood at the top of the stairs and held her go bag in his hand.

"You ready to go home?"

She knew that he was talking about his apartment, and it sent a trill of happiness through her. She was more than ready and she killed the words that had sprung to her tongue. _"I am. Are you?"_

Instead she nodded and followed him to his Suburban and allowed him to open the door for her, she would continue this discussion with him, and hopefully be able to follow JJ's advice, and let her heart lead.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **You can't make me say it again._

_**AN: **Hey team, how you doin'? I'm sure you are all fantastic._

_Anywhos here is chapter six, I hope you all like it._

_I'm feeling a mite short on the witty right now, so you'll have to forgive me for this lame authors note._

_Happy hunting y'all._


	7. Crazy Love

**_"Actions, far more often that words, say what we truly feel." - ??_**

Emily had been acting odd all night, and it was starting to worry Hotch. She had been open and happy with Jack, their evening routine kept intact, but when it came to situations with her smile faltered and her words became few.

Now that Jack was safely tucked in bed, his small body having lost the battle with sleep some time ago. He and Emily were also getting into bed, a thought which always brought joy to his mind. They had never done anything, which was both a blessing and a burden, and something that he wasn't sure what to think.

There were times when she'd be tucked in his arms, her body against the length of him, and he wanted nothing more than to ravish her. Other times, they'd be lying apart, not touching, her presence evident only through the soft breaths she took, and he wanted to make love to her they way she deserved.

No matter what he'd felt during the night, he always woke in the morning his body showing the effects of where his mind had been.

Though he thought he hid it well, it was naive of him to think that she hadn't known that he was a man. After all, he was a man, and she was a beautiful, attractive, sexy woman who always found a way next to him.

He didn't understand, nor had he asked, why they shared a bed. The first night he had stayed because he wanted to hold Emily while they felt the first signs of life from the baby they had made. Wanted to hold her while he could, still afraid that she might have been taken away from him.

The next night she had stayed at his place again, and they just both ended up there. Not that he was complaining, but he was after all, a man.

"Are you all right Emily? You seem to be a little quiet today." He asked, as he climbed under the covers on what had become his side of the bed. Though they usually woke up together in the middle of the bed, his best intentions had him starting away from her.

"I'm fine." Was her response and he wondered if she were being totally honest with him. He knew that she would never outright lie to him, but he sensed that she was holding something back. He could see it in her face and her dark eyes as she lowered herself into the bed beside him. "Just thinking is all."

"What are you thinking about?" Turning off the light and shrouding them in darkness. The light from the moon illuminated her already pale skin, giving her an ethereal light. His body hummed with the knowledge that she was within his grasp, and his fingertips longed to pull her towards him and just touch her.

"Oh you know, stuff. Baby names, genders, how Jack is going to make a wonderful big brother, colleges, stuff like that." She had started to whisper, and in an effort to hear her better, he inched his body closer, and sighed when she too moved towards him. They weren't touching, his king size bed offering a lot of middle ground when they started on opposite sides of the bed.

"Baby names? So you're not going to call it 'Kilgore'?" He asked with a chuckle, having made fun of her for nicknaming the unborn child 'Kilgore'.

She laughed with him, and the sound warmed his heart as she moved towards him again. "No. Can you imagine the torture the poor thing would have to endure? No, I plan to love this baby, not spend thousands of dollars on therapy after naming it 'Kilgore Trout.'" He laughed again, and once more scooted closer to her.

"That's good." He had yet to go with her on any of her doctor's appointment, as she usually opted to go during office hours, and if he went with her the team would quickly out together that there was nothing on the level with what she had told them about the baby's patronage. "Have you found out what it is? A boy or girl, I mean?"

His curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he really wanted to know. If asked, he wouldn't really care either way. Just so long as it was healthy, and didn't have Emily's looks of it were a girl. Then he'd be chasing boys away from her as soon as she could walk. Or Jack would be chasing them away.

"Nope. I don't want to know either. I think I'm going to like the surprise of not knowing. I did ask Jack though." He heard both the smile and sadness in her voice, and wondered where the sadness was coming from. It had crept into her face often when they talked about the baby, and he had never had the courage to ask where it stemmed from.

Focusing on something else for the moment he wondered what Jack had said. "Oh really, and what did he say?"

She started with a chuckle, and sighed as they both moved towards each other, now mere inches away. "He said, and I repeat in almost a direct quote, 'Girls have cooties, so I want a boy. Boy's are better at games and stuff too.' It was the cutest thing I'd ever heard."

They shared a laugh, and as they shared a quiet moment of thinking on Jack and whatever the baby might be, Hotch stretched his arm out and rested his hand on Emily's hip. No matter who made the first physical contact of the night, Hotch always expected her to stiffen at his touch. He didn't know why, even after so long, but whenever she didn't it sent a thrill through him.

"Can I ask you a question?" He whispered, tracing a small circle with his thumb on her hip.

"Sure." Has her soft reply, and he felt her own hand move and take a fistful of his shirt in her hand.

"Why do you get sad sometimes when we talk about the baby?" Her body stiffened, but she didn't move away, and it was a long time before she answered him.

"There's something you don't know about me." She said her voice so low he almost missed her words. Concern shot through him, and instead of holding back like he had originally planned, he moved closer and took her into his arms, holding her tight.

The fear in her voice scared him, as did the shiver that ran through her. It must be something pretty big for her to react that way.

"Emily you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." He whispered, his hands moving to her back, rubbing what he hoped were comforting circles there.

They lay that way, feet entwined, and bodies together for a long while, and he hoped that she would be able to at least say something to him. His heart ached that he had caused her pain, and more than anything in the world he wanted to make it right, but he didn't know how to do that.

Eventually she pulled back, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. Only once could he ever remember seeing her anything but poised and in control, and that had been when her friend had just died. If he didn't know better, he would have said that she was currently mourning the loss of someone, but if that were the case she would have told him.

"Hotch, please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to have this conversation right now." Her voice had regained some of its strength and poise, but the tears still unnerved him.

"Okay." He nodded, and brought one of his hands from her back and gently wiped her tears away.

Leaning his head forward her gently kissed her, hoping to kiss away any last traces of sadness that she might be feeling. What he'd intended to be sweet, innocent and chaste had turned into something that wasn't anywhere near his intentions.

Rolling back, and pulling her with him so she was straddling him, he deepened the kiss, reacting to the way that she had pressed herself against him.

Taking her lower lip between his, he suckled on the flesh and his body heated up as she moaned his name. Running his tongue along her lips, he delighted in the feeling of their tongues meeting and battle for control as the pace of their actions sped up.

As she propped herself up on her arms, he took the opportunity to slip his hands under the shirt she was wearing and run his hands along her soft skin. Slipping the t-shirt up as his hands passed her swollen tummy, another wave of desire rolled through him as he realised that she was carrying his baby.

Briefly he wondered what they were doing, but his mind turned off as she leaned up so he could remove her shirt, and her thigh pressed against the bulge that was his erection. He hadn't been expecting the friction, and the feeling of finally getting what he'd wanted for so long had him breathing out her name before their lips met again.

All pretence of innocence gone, Hotch sat up, forcing her into kneeling over his hips as he bent his mouth to her neck and found the spot that had caused her to clutch at him the last time they had been together.

All along his lower back he could feel her fingers frantically searching for something, and as she'd bent her back opening her neck to him, he quickly pulled away from her and pulled his own shirt off and discarding it somewhere off the bed. Instead of bringing his lips back to where they had been, he moved his mouth to her breast and took one of her hardened nipples into his mouth.

He had read the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book and he knew that her nipples were hyposensitized, and as she gripped his head and let out another husky moan, he knew that the book hadn't lied. Switching to the other breast he brought his hand to her head, and pulled her mouth down to his and claimed her as his once again.

He hands moved to his chest and pushed back onto the mattress, and her hands trailed fire down his abdomen as she moved down to the hem of his pyjama pants. He lifted his hips to help her remove his pants, and when they were on the floor, he gently took hold of her and flipped them, so that he was poised over her.

Quickly removing her bottoms and panties at the same time, he slowly kissed his way up her legs, starting at her ankles and working his way up. His erection throbbed almost painfully, having woken up far too often, dreaming of this situation.

By passing her core, he trailed his hand over her entrance, and loved the fact that she bucked her hips into his hand. He felt the heat and wetness there, and as he pressed a soft kiss to her baby bump, he pressed her thighs apart and settled his hips between her as he lavished her breast with his mouth once more.

Her hands in his hair pulled him back to her lips and he kissed her thoroughly as he help himself over her, so as not to squish the baby.

They kissed for another long moment, until she slowly pulled away and looked into his eyes. Lust may have been clouding his vision, but he could see it reflected back at him through the shades of Emily Prentiss. One of her hands left his hair and trailed down his back and came to rest on the indecent side of his hip, her nails digging into the flesh there.

"Please Aaron." His body thrilled at his given name on her lips, and he wasted no time in slipping into her.

He wanted to give her nice and slow, wanted to lavish her with affection, wanted to show her exactly how badly his body wanted her, but all of that stopped when he was buried so deeply into her.

The angle was perfect as he held himself over her, preventing his weight from being on the baby, and as he lips took hold of his once more, he started to move, her hips falling into rhythm with his.

Their pace sped up, and when she stopped kissing him, he moved his lips to her breasts, moving from one to the other, as his name kept escaping her lips. After a while, bodies slick with sweat, and her nails dug into his back he felt her tighten against his thrusts. Leaving her breasts he watched she came around him, a moan escaping her, fuelling his own release not two seconds after hers.

He buried himself in her as far as he could and rocked his hips, to prolong the waves of ecstasy that had over taken him.

Arms shaking with the pressure of holding himself off of her, he rolled away, pulling her with him. Lying on his back, he tucked her into his side, and felt her lips press a small kiss just above where his heart would be. He turned and kissed her forehead, wrapping the blankets around them.

"Thank you Aaron." She'd draped one of her legs over his, and he turned slightly to hold more of her against him.

He didn't know what had just happened between them, and he choose not to analyse it, and just relish in the feelings still rolling through his spent and sated body. As he felt her body relax and fall to sleep beside him, he turned his head and kissed the top of her head, and leave his face there.

He would question it later, for now he just wanted to sleep peacefully with her held in his arms.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **Poop._

_**AN: **For those of you who didn't catch that, or forgot, I'm going to say that Hotch doesn't know about Rome and the baby. Which I don't think he does. As far as we know from the show, Emily only told Dave, who would keep her confidence by not telling anyone. So, Hotch doesn't know, you know._

_How'd you like it? Let me know, by hitting that little green button, right down there._

_Happy hunting y'all._


	8. The Apple Falls Close

_**"Sometimes there are no words, no clever quotes to neatly sum up what happened that day. You do everything right, everything exactly right, and still you feel like you failed." - Aaron Hotchner (Se4Ep25/26 "To Hell... ...And Back") **_

_July_

"So, how are things between you and Hotch?" JJ asked, as the two of them spent the afternoon at the park with the kids. It had been rather easy to convince Aaron to let her take Jack to the park, and Emily was thankful for that.

Things had changed for them in the last month, since that first night together, and the smile that crept onto her face showed that. Whereas the month before she had gone back to her own apartment every now and then, but since then she was practically living with them.

Though she still found it odd that they hadn't yet verbalised anything between them, there was an ease of comfort that surrounded the situation, and no matter how odd it may have been during the day, spending the night in his arms always washed away her fears about their relationship. It wasn't just the fact that they continued to make love on a regular basis, it was more than that.

"Good." She hoped her one word answer wasn't too evasive. Though she and Aaron had taken steps towards something, even it was just sex; JJ was still the only one that actually knew the truth. Emily was sure by now that the rest of the team speculated that there was more to her and Aaron than met they eye, but no one else had bothered to confront them about it.

"Good? That's all you're going to give me?"

Emily smiled and scanned the playground for Jack. He had met some kids from his kindergarten class and was currently playing tag with them, while Henry played at their feet, every now and then making a random noise or screech.

Though it had been easy to convince Hotch, Emily still brought her gun and cell phone, knowing what kind of danger lurked in public parks. Though she expected the day to go by smoothly, the profiler in her still looked at all the adults with a suspicious eye.

"Yes ma'am." She nodded, thinking that it was about time that she should tell more than Rossi about her childhood and the child that she had given up. A large part of her psyche still maintained the hurt that had caused her, both physically and mentally, and every time she got close to Hotch, it just brought it up.

He'd respected her wishes and not brought up the subject again, but she noticed that whenever they did talk about the baby, he was always treading carefully, testing the waters before jumping in. A part of her respected that since she wasn't sure she was ready to tell him, or if she ever would be.

"We're taking things slow."

"Emily, it's been three years, if you guys were going any slower you'd be going backwards. I've never know you to shy away from anything you've wanted. Is there something else, has he made any suggestions that there could be nothing between you?" Defensive about Hotch normally, it sounded as if her friend was implying that Aaron would be so callous. Though she knew different, parts of her wanted to scold JJ for even thinking that. Aaron and JJ had a special relationship, and Emily was thankful for her friendship, even if JJ sometimes forgot what kind of man Aaron was.

"No, nothing like that, it's me. Though neither of us has said anything, like I said before, I don`t want to rush into anything."

"Yeah." The blonde's voice sounded sceptical, and Emily searched the playground for Jack again, in hopes that she wouldn't have to meet her friend's eye. "That argument sounded weak last time you gave it to me. Want to try another answer? Maybe one with a little bit of truth to it."

Emily sighed, as Jack's laughter was carried on the wind to her, deciding that this was her chance to share something with her friend that had affected her since she was fifteen.

"Remember the Father Silvano case?"

"Mmhmm." JJ nodded and handed a toy to Henry, who, though he could walk, sat contentedly at her feet.

"Well there was more to my interest in that case than I originally let on."

"Like what?"

"When I was fifteen I lived in Rome. Matthew, the second victim, and Jon the guy we saved, were my best friends. Anyways, you know what it's like to be a teenage girl; I did what I had to keep my friends."

"You got pregnant." She remarked that it was funny that both of the friends she had shared this story with got to that conclusion. Though different from Rossi, JJ's face had softened and concern lined her face.

"Yeah. You don't need all the little details, but Matthew helped me procure an abortion, and it was then that he started down the path which led us or me rather, back to him."

Instead of saying anything like Emily had expected. JJ just reached across the bench and took her hand. Emily squeezed back, and her eye's scanned the playground for Jack. He was standing with a girl behind him, facing somebody that she couldn't see.

Her maternal instincts roared into high gear and she stood, pulling JJ up with her.

"Jack!" She called his name, and unlike last time he didn't run to her. Fearing she might be over-reacting, she sat back down but kept her eyes on him.

"What was that?" JJ asked, looking in the direction that Emily was staring.

As quickly as she took her eyes of the boy his voice filled the wind, screaming her name and laying on the ground, the person her had been standing against running in the opposite direction.

Adrenaline filled her and as one she and JJ took off towards Jack and the girl, JJ carrying Henry and Emily putting her gun on her hand.

As they got to his side, the first thing she noticed was that Jack's face was covered with blood that was still flowing rather freely, and the girl that he had been standing in front of was crying, holding her arm.

"Jack what happened?" Her heart still at the look of grim determination on his small face, and the pain that was lurking in his eyes.

"That man, the bad guy tried to take Alyssa." Her heart sped right back up, and looked to see that the man had disappeared.

"How do you know?" She looked up to JJ, who had Henry on her hip, and her cell phone to her ear, talking fast. Her world had focused on Jack, and she couldn't understand the words her friend was saying.

She stood him up as she was talking to him, and gently removed his outer shirt and folded it up, pressing it against his wound, and wiping the blood away.

"He asked her to help him find his dog, and she said she wasn't allowed to talk to strangers, and Daddy said never talk to strangers, or go anywhere with them, so I told him that, then when he tried to grab her I kicked him, and he pushed me down, so I screamed for you, cause you help Daddy catch the bad guys. Right?" He had said it all so fast, and pride shot through her as tears formed in her eyes. She didn't know where his actions had come from, but he'd done everything right and had a nasty cut on his forehead that would probably require stitches.

What caused the tears though was the way his big Bambi eyes had looked at her with complete trust on the last word, and flicked to his friend when he mentioned her. The little girl's mother was there, and as Emily looked around the park she noticed that all of the kids were with a parent, or adult.

"You did a very good job Jack. Very good job." She said thickly taking his small body into her arms and lifting him off the ground. The feat was made difficult by her expanded stomach and the one hand still holding fast to his head.

"Em'ly, my head hurts." She was surprised that he hadn't been crying, or mentioned it sooner. Then she realised that his body, like hers, was probably coursing with adrenaline, and she knew that the pain would come as soon as that faded. She needed to get him to a hospital.

They worked in tandem, gathering all of the children's belongings, and it was long before she felt Jack's small body shiver, and cool tears fall onto her collarbone. They made it into the car and to the hospital just as soon as the realisation of what his body had experienced and Jack started into the hysterics.

"Emily, take him in, I'll call Hotch and then I'll come find you."

Emily just nodded, and carried Jack's sobbing body into the already chaotic waiting room. Walking up to the nurse's station she tried to calm him, or console him in some way, but the harried nurse waved her concerns away, amid the other screaming children.

"What happened?"

Emily tried to place him on the desk, but he clung to her neck tighter, unable, and unwilling, to force him away from her she twisted her body and pulled the now ruined shirt off of his head. Warm blood trailed over her fingers, and her heart stilled again, as she quickly covered it up.

"Okay, come with us, you can fill these insurance forms out once we get him all fixed up." She didn't care to mention that Jack wasn't her son, and followed the nurse behind a curtain.

"Jack, sweetie, you're going to need to let me go so the doctor can look at you. Can you do that for me honey?" She asked as the nurse moved about the small space pulling out gauze and other things. He gripped her tighter as the nurse slipped plastic gloves on.

"I want Daddy." He wailed in her ear.

"I know honey," her heart breaking as she forced him away from her. "Aunt JJ went to go call him to come see us. But the doctor needs to see you. But I promise I'll be right here the whole time."

He gripped at her more, so once he was untangled from around her neck she heaved herself up onto the bed, aware that with her stomach the size it was she would have to sit beside him and hold him against her. So she positioned herself right behind him and pulled his little body as close to hers as he could get.

With one arm wrapped around his heaving chest, the nurse took over the shirt holding, so Emily transferred her hand to his, and his little fingers gripped hers tightly, while his other arm had a death grip on her arm.

"Okay, let's take a look." The nurse pulled down the shirt, and instantly removed it, and started cleaning the wound. Luckily the blood flow had ebbed, and most of his little face was covered with dried, caked blood.

She held him, kissing his hair, and talking to him while the nurse worked, cleaning his face and forehead. Emily noticed that her own hands were covered with blood, and the realisation startled her, and suddenly the baby kicked in her, which startled Jack whose small back was pressed heavily against her abdomen.

"What was that?" He asked, most of the former traces of pain gone from his voice.

"That's the baby kicking."

His eyes widened in surprise, and he leaned forward a little bit, and then leaned back again to feel it again. "Wow!" The word was hushed from his lips, and the nurse smiled, and looked down at him.

"Okay Jack," she started, and his eye's tore away from Emily's stomach and looked at the nurse. "I'm going to go get the doctor. Can you sit here very still until he gets here?"

He nodded solemnly and still instantly as she left the curtain. He leaned into her, and his face broke into a smile as the baby continued its soccer routine.

"There you are." JJ and Penelope came into the enclosed space, and Emily looked at them in confusion, where had Penelope come from.

Jack instantly held a finger to his mouth and shushed them, and whispered the words, "Em'ly's baby is kicking. Shh."

Both of them smiled and moved towards, placing their hands on her stomach. Henry was the only one in the room who didn't have any appendage on her, but he looked slightly dazed, and had a spit bubble on the side of his mouth.

"Okay. So who is Jack?" A doctor came into the room, and instantly JJ and Penelope moved away, and Jack repeated his shushing motion and words, and Emily felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. Instead of getting angry, the doctor smiled at Jack, and moved forward to look at the wound.

"Sorry Jack. I didn't know." The doctor whispered the words, and Jack's reassuring smile warmed Emily's heart as he replied in a whisper.

"It's okay." JJ and Penelope snickered, and Henry squealed, which made Jack glare at the baby.

"Okay Jack, this is going to need some stitches. Have you had some stitches before?"

He shook his head, and luckily the baby decided to stop kicking. This would never get done if it had continued as Jack seemed to forget his own pain, and focus on feeling the kicking more.

"That's okay. But I am going to need you to lie down; your mother can stay and hold your hand, but you to lie down. Can you do that for me?"

No one in the room corrected the doctor's assumption that she was his mother, and as she slid off the bed, Jack kept a firm hold on her hand as she pulled a chair closer to the bed to sit down. She held his soft blonde hair back as the doctor worked, and she saw JJ and Penelope sneak away, mouthing the words "going to wait for the guys" she just nodded and turned her attention back to Jack who was lying still, and quiet just as the doctor had asked.

When the whole ordeal was done, Jack had six stitches, and a nice bruise was forming around the wound. Jack sat up on the bed with Emily's help, and she perched herself on the edge of the bed and his little body instantly bent into hers.

It wasn't long after the doctor dressed the wound when the rest of their team entered the small curtained area.

"Daddy!" Aaron's eyes looked pained as he swept into the room and took his son into his arms. Reid, Morgan, Rossi, JJ, Penelope, Will and Kevin all filed around the bed, and Emily had the fight the urge to take boy of her boys into her arms and kiss away the worry that had filled Aarons face.

"What happened?" Though his question was directed at her and JJ, Jack was the first to speak. He recounted the whole story, almost exactly the same way he had at the park. Incredulous looks were hared around the room, but none more so that Aaron's. They were both now perched on the bed, each with a hand on his back, and he had rested one of his small hands on each of their knees.

"Why did you do that buddy?" Jack small face looked at his father as if he had missed the point, and that it should have been obvious.

"I had to stop the bad guy daddy. Just like you." Morgan chuckled softly, and Rossi smiled.

Aaron pulled Jack into his arms, and laughed.

"Well now that we're all together, why don't we go back out to my house, have dinner?" Rossi asked, and a bunch of nods filled the room.

"I have to fill out this insurance stuff, but Jack and I will catch up." More nods came, and Jack's voice spoke out.

"I want Em'ly to come with us Daddy." Her heart squeezed with love for the boy, and catching Aaron's eye, he nodded and the rest of the team shared a look. She moved back towards Jack who held his arms out for her. She took him into her arms and held him tightly, and kissed his cheek.

Suddenly, and without warning Jack fell asleep, which Emily understood. He had been through a lot in the last few hours, and the adrenaline rush he had felt must have left his body exhausted.

"Aaron, I'm so sorry." She whispered, and he was at her side instantly, the insurance forms abandoned on the bed.

"It's okay Emily." He pressed his lips against her forehead, and she couldn't help but lean into him. Emily felt a moment of perfection settle about her as Aaron held her, Jack and their unborn baby in his arms.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **The nice man with the gun, black suit and sunglasses has informed that I must here state that I do now, nor will I ever own Criminal Minds. (He's not going away! What do I do?!)_

_**AN: **A few of you are asking when I'm going to have them express their feelings for each other. I do have that in my plan, but if you notice, so far, that something has always come up. Making love, stitches, hostage situations. Trust me my pretties, I am getting to it. All in good time my friends, all in good time._

_On that note. I'm sorry about this chapter, it kind of needed to happen for what's going to happen to happen. I didn't mention, couldn't find the space to fit it here, but when Emily first got to Jack, JJ was on her phone, she was using her connections to get the local PD there, and they got the guy. Also she phoned Garcia who was on her way to join them at the park, she went straight to the hospital instead._

_Seriously guys... he's not going way._

_Happing hunting y'all._


	9. The Name of The Game Is Snaps

**_"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare)_**

"Daddy, did I do a bad thing today?" Jack's little voice was filled with concern, and as he held on to his navy boat with one hand, and a rubber duck with the other, Hotch had to wonder how his young son was so well behaved.

Wiping the damp cloth over the boy's hair and face, he paused while bath time was a much quieter affair than normal. He hoped that Jack wouldn't notice his long pause, but he didn't know where to begin.

"No." Jack smiled at him, and he returned the smile, and pondered how to go on.

He had filled with fear when JJ had told him where Jack was, and what was happening. Fear that he would lose Jack as well, and that he wouldn't have a chance to say goodbye. Then anger. Anger at Jack, himself, the guy and most inappropriately Emily and JJ. That had faded as quickly as it came, but he was still angry at himself.

He had filled Jack's head with vigilance on strangers, and never going anywhere without his permission, and finally always scream for help and run away if someone tried to take him. He knew that Jack was only four, almost five, and it was a lot of information for him to understand, but he needed Jack to be safe.

Never had he thought Jack would take the matter into his own hands and try and stop someone from doing something back.

"No, but remember what I said about running away." He asked, wiping the cloth over Jack's face again, careful to avoid the gash on his forehead. There was a small part of him that was really proud of his son's stitches, especially since they came from an act of heroism.

A small nod was his only answer as the duck gently rammed the boat.

"So why didn't you run away?"

Bath time over, he pulled Jack out of the tub and started drying him, waiting for his answer. They day had been long by many standards, and Hotch regretted pushing Jack to answer his questions now, but he needed to know.

"Because you don't daddy."

Hotch stopped the drying ministrations and looked Jack in the eye. The area above his right eye was a gnarly purple color, and the cut was reddish and caked with dry blood and the stitches were tight holding it together.

No, he didn't often run away. The most running he did was from Emily, and that was because she was truly frightening.

"No, but Jack there are some times where your best option is to run away."

"But daddy, the bad guy was going to hurt Alyssa!"

"I know buddy, but-"

"No daddy!" Hotch was a little surprised that Jack had interrupted him, but he lapsed into silence, and allowed Jack to go on. He looked determined, and once again stopped his motions. Jack was half dressed now, his upper body without a shirt. "You never run away. You always get the bad guy."

Suddenly Hotch was filled with visions of Jack as an agent, or a cop, something dangerous, and the thought didn't worry him as much as it ought.

"Jack," he started when his son had lapsed into silence. "I'm not mad at you. In any way. What you did was brave, and smart, and good, and you saved your friend. But if that happens again, take your friend and run away."

Hotch shuddered thinking about Jack in a dangerous position again, but he had to know that Jack would be safe. The world wasn't safe, and he would go crazy worrying about Jack in danger.

"Okay daddy." Jack rolled his eyes, and Hotch stifled a laugh, as he gently pulled the shirt over Jack's head and pulled him in for a hug. "Daddy, can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Hotch stilled instantly and thought of Emily, who was there, in his bed, right now waiting for him. He owed her an apology for getting mad at her. Not that she knew, but she still needed to know that the whole situation wasn't her fault. Danger was their life, by choice, and they had to take it as it came.

"Sure buddy."

Jack ran off towards Emily, and Hotch cleaned the bathroom up. He could hear their voice's coming from his room, and he smiled just thinking of Emily and Jack together. It wasn't often that he got warm feelings all over him, but when he did it usually involved Emily or Jack. He'd realised shortly after she had started staying with him, that her and Jack together were a lethal combination against him.

He was like putty in their hands, he was sure he would try and stop the sun from setting if they had asked, and he wasn't sure he minded all that much.

With Haley, life had been a race. He'd explained it to Dave once, and with Emily it was different. She was able to accept him just as he was, probably because they were so similar. They both carried the weight of the world on their shoulders, and yet were still able to carry Jack. Something that he thought amazing.

The past few months had been eye opening for him. He hadn't known he would be able to move on after Haley. To say that he didn't love her would be a lie. He would always love Haley because she had given him the most amazing thing in his world. She had given him Jack. Though he didn't love her the way a man ought to love a woman, he knew that there would always be a place in his heart that belonged to Haley. But that part was filed under 'Platonic' now.

Emily was slowly working her way through his heart moving from platonic to something more. It hadn't been easy, nor had he really noticed the change in his feelings until one night she was asleep in his arms, but he found the discovery didn't shock him as much as it should have.

If he looked back over his life for the past few years through everything she had been there. Gideon leaving, Haley leaving, New York, Foyet, the list could go on, and every time he could remember feeling grateful for her presence. Though he wasn't shocked, he was scared. Scared that she too would leave him.

He was afraid to tell her of his growing feelings for her. Though she hadn't said anything of the like to him, he was sure he could guess what she felt towards him, and those thoughts alone warmed his heart. She was, after all, having his baby, what more did she have to say.

Done in the bathroom, he shut off the light and moved towards his room, and stopped unnoticed in the doorway, looking in on the two of them, a smile rising unabashedly to his face.

"But the baby has to have a name Jack. We can't call it baby forever." Emily was smiling down at him, one hand beside his on her belly, the other gently combing his hair.

Jack sat on the bed with George the stegosaurus in his lap, one hand on the organ teddy the other on her belly, lightly tapping. "Oh. Why not?"

"You were a baby once right? Just like this baby?" He nodded, obviously impressed by her logic. "I'm sure your mommy and daddy didn't want to call you baby forever."

"Okay." Hotch had to marvel at her. It seemed she had no qualms about bringing Haley up. Any mention of her used to twist the knife further into him, bringing more pain and guilt, now he just smiled and felt loss for his son, who lost his mother far too young. Jack didn't seem to mind the mention either as he seemed enthralled with their conversation. "I thought you were gonna call it Kilgore?"

Hotch stifled his laugh, and saw Emily do the same. "No sweetie, that's just what I call it right now, before it's born."

"Oh good, I didn't like that name anyway."

Emily nodded, and Hotch felt privileged that she was spending time with Jack, allowing him to be a part of her pregnancy as well. They hadn't told him that the baby would be his brother or sister, but he had taken to the idea of her having a baby quickly, embracing the role of protector and defender without consent. Not that either of them minded, he was awfully cute in that role, minus the stitches.

"So what do you think its name should be?" She asked, smile still on her face.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know. So we should pick a name for both."

"Okay. Umm..." Jack scratched his head thinking, and Hotch took the silent moment to walk into the room.

"What's going on in here?" He asked, climbing up on his bed behind Jack, and placing his hand above Emily's on her stomach. Their fingers entwined as much as they could, and Jack leaned against his chest and looked at him.

"We're trying to think of a name for the baby."

Hotch caught Emily's eye and gave her fingers a squeeze, loving the moment they were having right now.

"What have you come up with?"

"Well I'm named after you, right daddy?"

Hotch nodded quickly. Jackson was his middle name, also his late father's name, hence the name Jack.

"So we could name the baby after its daddy. What's his name?" Jack looked at Emily, as did Hotch, and he saw a moment of panic come over her, before it was quickly pushed aside, and a smile replaced it.

"Well buddy," Hotch interrupted just as Emily was about to speak and she looked at him, surprise written all over her face. "What would you think if I said that I was the baby's daddy?"

Emily's fingers squeezed his, and Jack turned his entire body to face him. As Hotch was lying on his side, Jack had to look down at him slightly and the emotions on his face were priceless, an incredulous look coming over his face.

"That means we'd have to name the baby Jack too!" Hotch and Emily both started laughing, and Jack looked between them, confusion coming over his features. "What?" He demanded looking between them.

"No Jack, we wouldn't have to name it 'Jack'. We could call it 'Aaron' if it were a boy."

Understanding, and relief, crossed his features, as he twisted back to Emily and placed his hand back on her stomach.

"Forget boys names guys. What if it were a girl?" Emily's voice filled the silence that followed, and Jack looked up to her, a smile instantly lighting his face.

"Then we could name it Emily!"

They both laughed again, and Jack sighed in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air. "I give up. Daddy can we watch a movie?

"Sure thing buddy." As he got off the bed and placed their standard late night movie, _The Princess Bride,_ into the DVD player, Emily and Jack both got under the covers, and he pressed himself into her, resting his head on her chest and placing George in her lap.

Moving back to the bed he turned off all the lights and climbed in beside Jack, and linked his hand with Emily's, feeling warm all over again, having his two favourite people in his arms.

Fifteen minutes into the movie Jack was fast asleep, his deep, even breaths indicating that he was out for the night. Hotch looked over at Emily, and her eyes were drifting closed so he turned off the DVD player and TV and laid them both down, careful not to jostle Jack and his stitches or Emily and the baby.

Crawling back in behind Jack, he took Emily's hand in his again, and she once again squeezed his fingers, spreading warmth and emotions flooding through him.

"Emily?" He asked.

"Yes Aaron?"

"Thank you for taking care of Jack today."

"It was nothing. I did what I had to; to make sure he was safe, though he pretty much took care of that himself." Her whispered words were filled with drowsiness and love, and she squeezed his fingers again.

"Still. Thank you. He is lucky to have you." He paused, hesitant to say more, then decided he should man up, and tell her the truth. "We both are." She didn't respond with either words or a squeeze, and her breathing had evened out as she too fell asleep.

He thought it fitting that she sleep through his first confession of feelings, weak as it may have been. That he closed his eye, revelling in the warmth his heart was feeling, as he felt her slide a little farther from the platonic side of his heart.

* * *

_**Disclaimer:** I 'dis' claim any ownership to Criminal Minds. (The man hasn't left yet.)_

_**AN: **Ah, heartwarming fluff. Fun isn't it?_

_Happy hunting y'all._


	10. Alone

"_**Too long I've been afraid of losing love-- I guess I've lost. Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost! I'd sooner buy defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity. I think I'll try**__**Defying Gravity." – Kurt and Rachel. Glee Cast. (Defying Gravity)**_

_**  
**__August_

"Derek I don't want to help you pick out paint swatches for your new house." Emily knew that she was complaining, but she didn't really care. She was eight months pregnant, the size of a small mobile home, and her so called friend was dragging her around a hardware store, looking for stuff.

She may love the man, but she didn't care if he got off-white, snowflake or white paint. In her mind white was white no matter how fancy you made it sound. Not that she could blame him at all, fancy names did sound more fun than just white.

"Come on momma," She hated that as well. His smooth, velvety voice calling her 'momma' since she'd had to start waddling; however it did also bring a smile to her face, so she couldn't complain about it either. "I need a woman's help."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned on him just for a second, unable to really fight him. Kilgore was getting pretty big, and wreaking havoc with her energy level, and making her crave some ice cream something fierce. If she co-operated with him, he may get her ice cream.

"Fine. Are you renting this one, or flipping it?" She asked, still in his embrace. Since she'd left for her leave early, per doctors orders, the time had all taken the time to visit her. It was like a schedule she was sure they had worked out while they were in town.

Monday, JJ and Henry visited her, where they usually ate lunch and picked up Jack from school. Tuesday, Penelope took over her world like a whirlwind storm, and nothing could be defined as ordinary. Wednesday, Dave took her to a nice lunch and they chatted. Thursday was Derek's day, and he usually ended up taking her out for ice cream or whatever she fancied. Friday, which was her favourite day, Spencer would pick her up and take her to a movie theatre where he reluctantly sat close to a door so she could go to the bathroom all the time and they usually ended up playing a nice game of chess.

The weekends, were reserved for her and Aaron. And Jack, she couldn't forget Jack. He had become even more protective of her since they'd explained that the baby would be his brother or sister, and he always had a watchful eye on her.

Even when he was having his stitches taken out, he was more concerned with her than he was with himself. Emily often noted that Jack was a lot like Aaron that way, and when she mentioned it the elder Hotchner blushed while the younger smiled proudly.

"Renting it." He replied easily, still holding the white and fancy white swatch. She reached across her expanse of stomach and pulled the swatch out of his hand, placing it back on the shelf next to all the other whites.

"Then you don't want white, you want color." She pulled away from him and moved towards the more vibrant colors.

"And why is that Momma?" He asked moving back to her side, removing his sunglasses and hanging them from the neck of his shirt.

"Because when you sell a house you want it to be white. White is possibilities. When you rent it, you want color. Color makes a house a home." Hotch's house was a light blue color, she knew what that meant psychologically, but that didn't matter. It was a color she distinctly reconciled to him.

"Since when are you an interior decorator Emily?" He asked, taking the blue swatch she handed him.

"I'm not. I just spouted that so we could choose one and go get ice cream. My feet are starting to hurt. Expanding ankles and all that."

He laughed with her and placed the swatch back on the shelf, once again wrapping his arm around her shoulders and turning her body away from the color selection station.

"Fine then Momma. Ice cream it is." Emily sighed in happiness, her baby giving a little kick of appreciation at its uncle's words. Kilgore loved ice cream. Not that she could blame baby, ice cream was the nectar of the gods.

They were just about to his car when a shooting pain coursed through Emily's stomach. Gripping her stomach she hunched over, the pain slightly subsiding.

"Emily, momma you okay?" Derek was beside her in an instant, his strong arms around her and holding her gently.

"I dunno. I've never, oooh" her stomach clenched again, and Derek's arms tightened around her. "Felt this before." Panic was over taking her, and she needed to calm down. "Derek, honey, can you get me to a hospital?"

"Of course Momma." He quickly lifted her into his truck, and moved around to the other side. Instead of putting her seatbelt on, Emily kept herself doubled over, hoping that no more shooting pains would occur.

With her eyes closed, she kept her hands on her stomach, wishing for Aaron to be at her side.

"Derek. Can you please call Hotch for me?" Even her voice pained her.

Instead of a response from her, she just heard him dial his phone, and wait for Hotch to pick up. The pain her stomach hadn't returned, but it left waves of residual fear in her abdomen, and left her scared.

"Hotch? Morgan, I'm taking Emily to the hospital. No she's all right, I think, or not, but whatever, we're kind of speeding, but we're going to St. Sebastian's, meet us there." Emily only heard Derek's half of the conversation but the look on his face said all that she needed to know. Aaron would probably drop whatever he was doing and race towards them.

Without warning Derek reached across the console and took her hand, for which she was eternally grateful.

"Derek?" She asked weakly, hoping that she would be okay, knowing that she was possibly in danger.

"Yeah momma?" He asked, the panic in his own voice coming through.

"Can you call JJ and Penelope?"

"Want me to call Rossi and Reid too?" She recognised that he was trying to lighten the mood, but she would actually like her other friends there. A part of her recognised that she was probably over reacting, but panic loved company.

She simply nodded as another pain just shot across her stomach.

*

Emily now lay on her hospital bed alone, waiting for someone, anyone to come in. Test after test had been run on her and her uterus, and no one had come into tell her the results. Each of her friends had been allowed in one at a time, and had offered comforting words, but none of the words had done a thing for her.

It didn't help that the doctors had given her medication that stopped the pain. It also still the baby's movements, which the doctor said might happen, but the stillness worried her.

She wanted to see Aaron badly, but Dave, who had spoken to him, said that he was more than two hours away having been in New York. Looking at the clock she noticed that he was now just over an hour away and she hoped that he would get here faster.

"Ms Prentiss?" The familiar voice of her OBGYN called into the room, and her heart sped up, just hearing his voice. She prayed, for the first time in a long while, that her baby would be fine. It had been a long while since she'd talked to her God, but she felt the need to right now. She hoped that her father's words, 'you feel a great urging to talk to the Maker when you're about to meet him' were just words, but she couldn't explain it.

"Yes Doctor." The concern written all over his face scared her a little bit more that she already was, and she placed her hand over her belly, the stillness sending chills through her body.

"It's bad news." Though his words stopped her heart, her mind sympathised with him, bad news was the worst to bear. Instead of answering him, she just nodded, wishing once more Hotch was with her.

"What has happened is that the placenta had prematurely separated from the uterine wall, which caused the pain and the bleeding." His words were laced with something other than concern, and she was no longer aware of anything but her and the doctor.

"What does that mean? What can we do to fix that?"

"Well, there are a few options, but as I understand it the father of the baby is on the way." His eyes searched hers, and all she could see was fear reflected back at her.

She nodded again.

"What I'm going to do now is give you a mild sedative. This won't hurt the baby any, but it will put you out to prevent turning and movement. I'd like to act now but I think its best we wait for the father."

She nodded a final time, and allowed him to cover her up, and administer the drugs. Laying her head on the pillow she allowed the tears that had formed in her eyes to fall, waiting and hoping for Aaron to come.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **__I, unlike EAB and CBS, do not own Criminal Minds. Though if I did, I'd make one minor change to HBO, so we could finally get some sweet, sweet LEMON scenes for H/P. (Did y'all know that Lemon = Smut? I didn't. I like the sound of Lemon better, much less... dirty. I like dirty. What? Seriously. You all do too.)_

_**AN: **__So, about this. I'm going to take, shall we say, medical liberties, for this. I did look up actual dangerous pregnancy issues, but they all sounded so... dangerous. So I made this one, kind of a blended version of a couple, and some of my own stuff. _

_I'm sorry about the slight cliff-hanger; I just needed this to end here, so that I could get on to the next chapter. Also, I'm sorry about the short length of this, again, there wasn't much to be done._

_I hope that you all like this, and review, and I'll see you when I see you, which is next time I post. Thanks to all who have been reading, and the end is almost near._

_Happing hunting to all._


	11. Just Dance

**_"Just dance, it's gonna be okay. (Da da do do) Just dance, gonna be okay." –Lady Gaga, (Just Dance)_**

Aaron ran as fast as his feet would carry him towards the hospital, hoping against hope that this would just be something innocuous. His mind knew that was improbable, as his friends would have called him and told him not to rush.

Instead he'd gotten four urgent messages from his team that he should get there as fast as he could. Their words were cryptic and told him nothing as he broke several laws on the way to getting to Emily. He wanted to know why this kept happening to him. Rushing to the hospital, someone he cares about in peril, breaking laws and his heart in the process.

Going straight to the admissions desk, he breathlessly asked "Emily Prentiss?" He didn't say please, and he didn't care. He needed to find her now, his heart couldn't take this kind of pressure much longer. It had been in a vice for as long as he could remember these past six months, and he needed it to be released, for he feared the shrivelled mass would forever stay that way.

"Room 613." The nurse looked up at him, and he saw slight compassion in her eyes, and that fact alone worried him. "Wait. Are you the father?" The eyebrow raising worried him, that and the fact that the nurse knew he was, was bothersome.

"Yeah."

"Oh." Her entire face fell now, and his heart squeezed a little tighter. "Um, her doctor would like to see you first."

Aaron simply nodded, and took the written information she handed him, pity written all over her face. His heart was tight, and the energy that had been previously coursing through his body was gone, leaving him feeling terribly heavy and lagged.

Once at the office that he'd been indicated, Aaron knocked on the open door, and was met by a man wearing scrubs and looking haggard. "Come in, come in."

"I'm Aaron Hotchner, the admitting nurse said that you wanted to see me." The doctor stood and offered him his hand, which Aaron shook quickly, nervousness causing his palms to be moist.

"Emily Prentiss?" The man questioned, moving back around his desk and sitting down offering Aaron a seat as well, who took it and nodded at the same time.

"Thank you for coming to see me, there are some things I think I need to discuss with you."

"Okay."

"Ms Prentiss has suffered a placental abruption."

"What does that mean?" Aaron asked, wondering how soon he could go see Emily.

"It means that the placenta has prematurely detached from the uterine wall, which leads to some bleeding, both internally and externally. Not to sound vulgar or crude, but it's possibly one of the worst things to happen during pregnancy."

Panic struck him. He was no doctor, and that sounded horrible to him. "So what does this mean?"

"Well there are two options right now, both leading to the same destination. No matter what you and she decide, we are going to have to do an emergency C-Section."

"So what are the paths?" This sounded dangerous to him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to have this conversation without Emily. Or about Emily. He hadn't heard of this before, but it didn't sound very good.

"Well path one, we do the C-Section now. The second is that we wait a few days, maybe a week, allow the baby to grow, which we'll help along. Either option has its drawbacks."

"Which is safer? Which do you recommend?" Aaron's hands wrung together in his lap, his heart getting smaller and smaller by the moment.

"The first. I am confident that the baby will be fine. Even though it's four weeks premature, we have the finest neonatal unit, and we can get it healthy. As for Emily, the detachment so far has been small. Her previous abortion scars are small, and I think waiting is hazardous for both of them."

Aaron's mind heard all the words, but it stuck on the word abortion. When had Emily had an abortion? He didn't know if it were appropriate to ask her doctor, but as the man looked at his watch and continued talking, Aaron focused on his words and filed that piece of information for later.

"She should be waking up soon, I suggest you go talk to her about this."

Aaron stood and they shook hands again and he left, heading towards her room. His mind was racing. The doctor had implied that either route was dangerous, and that both Emily's and the baby's life hung in the balance. He passed by his team in the waiting room, and waved at them, walking by towards Emily's room.

Stopping just outside the room, he took a deep breath and stilled his nerves. He was facing the fact that his life was about to change for the rest of his life no matter what option he took. He loved Emily, he loved the baby she was carrying, but now he stood on the cusp of losing them both.

He'd been a fool, he knew, for not telling her sooner, now it would just feel cliché and cheap, but he knew that no matter what they decided, he knew that he would be a cheap romantic man and tell her the truth.

"Hey." He called into the room softly, hoping that she was awake.

"Aaron." Her sigh sounded a mixture of relief and excitement. She was lying on her side, her porcelain skin much paler than normal, accentuated by her dark hair and the gaudy hospital gown she was wearing.

Pulling a chair close to her bed he sat down and took her hand in his. She was shaking slightly, and he pressed his lips to the back of her hand, hoping to warm it.

"How are you?" He asked in a whisper, keeping her hand clasped in his.

"Scared." She whispered back.

He nodded and sighed wondering how to go on. "Yeah, sweetie, do you know what's going on?" He decided to skip over the part about her abortion. He had no intentions of angering her or delving into her past. Though he understood now why she sometimes got sat when they spoke of the baby, it was her choice to not tell him, and he would respect her wishes.

"Kind of. Did you talk to my doctor?"

He nodded again, and kissed her hand once more, reaching to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Slowly he trailed his thumb across her lips, and caressed her cheek.

"How bad is it?"

"Bad sweetie."

He went on to explain it to her, and their options. She seemed to understand quite well, and as he went on he could see her steel her own nerves and work it through.

"What's going on in that beautiful mind of yours?"

"What do you think Aaron? This is both of us." She asked.

"I think we should do it right now. Waiting sounds too dangerous, and straight up cliché and honest, I don't want to lose you."

She laughed with him, and he laughed too, a weak sound escaping him. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes, and tried to reign them back in. When he saw he tears, he let his fall, joining in with her.

"I don't wanna lose you either."

"I'm right here Emily. I'm not going anywhere." He paused, and gathered his thoughts, his emotions and himself. "I know I should have said this a long time ago, but I'm falling in love with you. So you need to fight when you go in there. Fight hard. Fight for Jack, for our baby, for our team, fight for you, fight for me. Sweetie, fight for us, and I promise you, I'll be here waiting for you when you wake up."

"Aaron, I love you too, I have for a long time." He smiled, and leaned forward and kissed her. What he hoped was a comforting meeting of their lips lasted to short, and a part of his mind shouted that he should kiss her again as it might be the last time. He shook his head, loosening the thought. If he though like that he was dooming himself for heartache.

"I need you to do something for me." She seemed determined now, and he knew that she would fight her hardest to survive.

"Anything." He would lasso the moon for her. Just like George Bailey. Hopefully his own love story with Emily would have just as happy an ending.

"No matter what happens," he wanted to scold her, to stop the defeated tone in her voice. Her face was set and determined, but her voice gave away what she was truly feeling. "Make sure Derek knows that this isn't his fault."

Hotch nodded, prepared to walk to the end of the world for her.

They lapsed into silence, both refusing to acknowledge that this might be the last time they are together. Elbows resting on the bed, Hotch bent towards her, resting his forehead against hers, holding tightly to her hand.

"So have we made a decision?" The soft voice of her OBGYN entered the room, along with the man, and Hotch turned to face him, Emily's soft hand wiping his face, removing his tears.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead, and stood, keeping her hand in his, entwining their fingers. "Yes we have. Do the surgery now."

The doctor nodded, and left the room, leaving them alone once again.

"Should I get our friends?" He asked, turning back to her.

She shook her head and replied, "No. Saying goodbye is a bad omen. Let them know that I love them, and I will see them later."

The doctor returned quickly, several nurses in tow, all looking ready and determined for saving Emily and her baby. Hotch was shuffled out of the room, and he moved to the waiting room at Emily's request. There, the other five members of his team, stood and moved towards him.

"What's going on?" JJ asked, the tears in her eyes speaking volumes more than Hotch knew she would ever share. The rest nodded quickly and he sighed, running his hand over his face, and through his hair.

"Emergency C-Section." He decided to spare them the rest of the details, unsure if any of them knew about the abortion he didn't know about.

Looks of shock and surprise passed through his friends, and without warning JJ was hugging him again. This time, he responded in kind and accepted her proffer of comfort wrapping his arms around her.

Rossi and Reid moved away, followed closely by Morgan and Garcia who were hugging each other.

"She'll be fine Hotch." JJ whispered against his chest, and he was once more thankful for his friend. He nodded, unable to reply. The only words that popped into his head to respond were, 'I hope so.' And those weren't the words that either of them needed to hear just now.

"Mr Hotchner?" The doctor called into the waiting room. The whole team moved towards the doctor who looked slightly overwhelmed at their presence. Hotch disentangled himself from JJ, and held up his hands to stop the team from following him. Following the doctor just outside the waiting room, they stopped around the corner and from here he could see Emily on her bed with an entourage of nurses.

"This will take a couple of hours, if it goes well." Hotch decided not to address the words which instilled fear and uncertainty in the doctor. "Because of the precariousness of the situation, the best place for you to be is here."

Nodding, he waved at Emily who waved back as the doctor left him and went back to her side. They left down the hall, leaving Hotch feeling terribly alone and scared.

Moving back into the waiting room Hotch dropped himself into one of the hard plastic chairs, bypassing any forms of comfort from his friends. JJ sat on one side of him, and Penelope on the other. Both of them strung their arms through his, and the guys all stood, Aaron sure that they were trying to look manly and strong on this trying situation.

"Guys, go home. The doctor said that there isn't anything we can do here. I promise that I'll call you as soon as she is out of surgery and the baby is safe."

"No way Hotch." Morgan started.

"Emily needs us. You need us." Reid finished.

"Please, go home." He pleaded.

"No. We want to help."

Hotch sighed. "I guess you all should know that I am the father of the baby." Sure it wasn't the most eloquent time to tell them, but it needed to be said. He really just wanted to be alone, and if that were to happen, he had to get them out.

He was sure that none of them knew for sure, but the looks on their faces indicated that they did indeed know. Leaving that mystery for another day, another time when Emily's life didn't hang in the balance, he went on, hoping that they would help him out.

"The baby is going to be early, and my apartment isn't ready, nor do we have anything we need for its arrival. If you want to be of help, go to my place, take down the office, paint it some whimsical baby color, and set up a nursery for the baby." He held up the key to his apartment.

They looked at him incredulously, but he wouldn't back down.

"Done." Morgan, who grabbed the key from his hand, was the first to speak and leave, followed by Reid who simply nodded and patted Hotch on the back. Rossi smiled and followed the other guys. JJ and Penelope got to their feet, pulling Hotch to his feet.

Pulling out his wallet he handed JJ his credit card and smiled. "You'll need to buy everything. Paint, a crib, everything JJ, everything. Buy stuff Emily would like, you know, and stuff."

The blonde nodded and both women kissed him on the cheek before turning and leaving, following the guys. Hotch followed them into the hall and watched them leave arm in arm. His team had faced a lot of stress and difficulty in the last year, mostly surrounding him. He was lucky for their support and affection.

Sitting back in the hard plastic chair, Hotch leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes, not excited at all about the next few longest hours of his life. Thankfully Jessica agreed to keep Jack until this was over, and all he needed to do now was stay positive.

A feat easier said than done.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **Ah Criminal Minds. A ratings juggernaut. Consistantley a top ten show in Canada. Which is where I'm from. If I owned a top ten show, it'd be this one. But I don't own it, so that's sad._

_**AN: **I don't know if I did this justice or not. Probably not. I'm not an emotional person, so I doubt that I got across the seriousness of the situation. However, I think this may be a good thing. This way no one cries, and no one hates me for making them cry._

_Happy hunting y'all._


	12. Dreams and Reality

**_"'Tell me one last thing,' said Harry. 'Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?'  
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.  
'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'" J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)_**

Emily's eyes refused to open. She felt as if the lids of her eyes had been sown and glued shut, encasing her in darkness. Pushing down the panic that she was starting to feel, she took a deep breath and instead concentrated on listening to what was going on around her.

Through the whisper of wind in the trees, she could hear the faint echoes of a waterfall, and even further beyond her reach the sound of a child's laughter. The jovial melody sounded as if it were a sound she'd forgotten. It was familiar, and yet strange, something that she couldn't exactly put her finger on.

The sun, at least she presumed it was the sun, warmed her skin, and the wind whipped tendrils of her hair against her face, sending small chills down her spine, but not enough to chill her.

As she stopped listening, Emily focused all of her energy on her eyes. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but the absence of light made her uncomfortable. 'Okay Emily,' she prepped herself, 'you can do this.'

With all her physical strength she forced her eyes open, and was greeted by the strangest thing she could ever remember waking too.

A forest, as far as she could see, stretched before her. Where she stood was an area cleared of trees, and flower beds filling the area. As best as she could tell it was some sort of garden, and the flower beds were raised to knee level offering a place to sit and rest.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed she placed her hand on her stomach to cover the baby but was shocked, and a little frightened to find that he abdomen was as flat as it had been before.

Panic welled in her, and she shouted for the baby.

"Kilgore!" The only response she got was another round of the childish laughter, and she ran towards it, hoping that it was her baby. Not thinking that Kilgore could laugh like that.

"Kilgore." She shouted again.

"That's not Kilgore." The voice came from behind her, startled; Emily reached for her gun only to find that it wasn't at her hip where it normally rested.

Prepared to fight in this strange land, she spun to face whoever had spoken to her. "Who are you?" She demanded, holding her fists in front of her face.

The man's hands instantly went up; palms towards her, in a defensive state, and Emily dropped her fists confused as to the man's appearance. Where she was wearing a pair of Aaron's pyjamas, the man was dressed in a startlingly white suit, and his shoes were the cleanest white Chuck Taylors she had ever seen.

"You don't recognise me?" His tone was incredulous as he lowered his hands and took a step towards her.

"Should I?" She asked, confused, now that she thought of it he did kind of look familiar. The suit was probably what was throwing her off.

"Probably not. It's been a long while Emily."

She took a step away from him and he offered a small chuckle. She wanted to know how he knew her.

"I am Anthony. Patron Saint of lost items and travellers."

Understanding dawned on her, that's why she recognised him. He had been Matthew's favourite saint.

"We met a long time ago Emily, so I forgive the lapse in memory."

She nodded, instantly confused again. Saint Anthony died 1000 years ago. If she was here talking to him, that must mean she must be dead as well. What about Kilgore? He had said that laughter hadn't been from Kilgore, but for some reason she thought she knew it.

"Am I dead?" She asked the obvious first, hoping the answer would enable her to ask more questions. She also really hoped the answer was no.

"No, you're not dead." Anthony had moved beside her, and gently grabbed her elbow and led her through the maze of flower beds.

"So I'm alive?" She question, willingly following him, hoping that he could answer the million questions that were flowing through her.

"The simple answer is yes, but it's a little more complicated than that."

"Am I in heaven?"

"No."

"Hell?"

"Ha-ha, no."

"Purgatory?"

"Not really. Let me clear this up for you." He stopped, so she stopped and faced him, blinded by his shiny lapels. "This place doesn't have a name. It's neither here, nor there. It's everywhere and it's nowhere. Some call it 'limbo'; some call it 'no-man's land'. I simply call it 'now',"

She feigned understanding and nodded, that didn't answer her question at all. The laughter that pulled at her heartstrings sounded closer, and through the tress she caught a glimpse of some flyaway black hair. With the hair she caught a glimpse of a little boy who was a few months past a haircut, and the largest smile she had ever seen on her face.

She took a step towards the child, wanting to know who the little boy was. He looked about Jack's age, but she didn't know any children that age.

"Is Kilgore here?"

"No," he started walking again, so she adjusted her course to follow him. She kept her eyes and ears peeled for the laughter or another sight of the boy. "Kilgore is not here. That's a horrible name for a baby, by the way."

"That's not what I was going to call it. I just needed something to call it while I waited to meet him. Or her." Her words sounded indignant even to her, and she scolded herself for scolding a saint. She may not believe in them now, but the Catholic Guilt she felt, prodded her to feel bad for it.

"Right." Sarcasm dripped off the word, and she rolled her eyes wondering why she was here. The last thing she remembered was saying goodbye to Aaron.

"If I'm not dead, why am I here?" She asked, hopeful that the answer would be simple.

"You have somewhere else to be?"

She huffed in frustration. He seemed to be enjoying his evasive answers and she wanted to throttle him. "Actually, yes I do have somewhere else to be." She was about to go on, but he cut her off.

"Emily, you will get back to wherever it is you need to be when you need to get back. Fret not; The Father has the situation under control."

Emily wanted to rebut the comment, but decided against it. She hadn't followed the father in sometime, why would she now. Though as it seemed she had no choice, she decided to go with it.

They walked on in silence for a while, every now and then giggles filling the air. Though she couldn't place the laugh with a person, it was now accompanied by a man's laugh which too sounded familiar.

"Why are you here?" She asked him, her mind working in overdrive to remember whose laugh she just heard.

"I told you, I am the Patron Saint of lost items and travellers." He answered coolly, stooping to smell a rose.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Of course it doesn't, because I haven't told you why I'm here yet. I just had to stop and smell the rose. You should try it." He held the bud softly in his hand, still stooping so as not to damage the flower.

She moved closer to him and sniffed the rose, rolling her eyes at the same time. She didn't have time to stop and smell the roses. Though hesitant at first, the first tingle of scent wasn't enough so she inhaled deeply letting the smell fill her lungs. It was the most potent rose she had ever smelt, and she couldn't get enough of it.

As she was about to take another whiff he started walking away again, and she had to hurry to catch up to him.

"I am here Emily, because you've lost something."

Her hand instantly went to her stomach, her mind to Kilgore. Though the fear had faded at his insistence that the baby was okay, she still wondered where it had gone.

"What?" Since it wasn't Kilgore, it had to be something.

"I can think of many things, but the one we are here for is something that you didn't even realise you'd lost until it was already too late." Her mind spun. She couldn't think of anything that she had lost and didn't know. Of course that line of thinking was pointless, because it was hard to remember that you'd forgotten something.

Without warning the child burst into the clearing followed closely by a man. They were both laughing, and the little boy looked adoringly up at the man. Seeing the man's face she instantly recognised him as her friend Matthew and she wanted to run to him and the little boy to find who the child was.

"Matthew." She called, but they were obviously far away, and couldn't hear her so she stepped in their direction only to be stopped by a soft hand on her forearm.

"They can't see you, or hear you Emily. We are simply guests in their world."

She still took a step towards the laughing pair, hoping to get a better look. "Who is the boy?"

"You don't recognise him?" Anthony asked his hand still gently on her arm.

She shook her head, trying to place him. It was odd to see this Matthew. He looked younger, and happier than she could ever remember him being as a grown-up. His face showed pure joy as her raced around with the boy, and love and affection poured out of him. If she didn't recognise him in this place, how could she place the boy?

"That is your child."

"Kilgore? You said Kilgore was fine." She practically screamed shaking him off and taking another step towards them.

Instantly Anthony was in front of her, his face a mass of compassion and understanding. "And he is. Trust me Emily, Kilgore is fine."

"But you just said-"

"You've been pregnant before Emily."

"Oh." Understanding welled within her, and was instantly replaced with sadness. She never regretted her decision to not have the baby. She had simply been to younger to understand what was going on, and even to this day she thought she made the right idea.

She had her moments where she wondered what that baby would have been like, a boy or girl and all that. Now she had a little piece of the puzzle. It had been a boy, and even from this distance she could see that he had inherited her dark hair, and Jon's wavy hair.

"Wait. Why is Matthew with him?"

"Matthew is here, because your son is the thing that Matthew regretted the most. Emily, Matthew cared for you deeply and so his decision to help you was based solely on that. He never blamed you for the way he felt about it, but he always wished that he had done other things to help you."

Emily felt tears well in her eyes. Never had she thought for a minute that his help had affected him so much. She had asked on more than one occasion, and he had always answered with a hug and reassuring smile and words telling her that his problems were his and had nothing to do with her. She didn't think he would lie to her, or try to protect her. But looking back she could see that's all he ever did, was try and protect her.

"This is why we are here Emily. Twenty-one years ago you gave up a baby, and for twenty-one years a part of you has been wondering about him. Was he loved? Cared for?"

Emily nodded, the tears clouding her eyes and running down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen and hugged herself as Anthony wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they stood in silence again and watched Matthew and her son playing.

"Your son and your best friend are happy here. Time doesn't exist in this place, so they will forever be happy and love each other. He is loved, he is cared for, and so is Matthew."

Words escaped her, and again she followed blindly as Anthony turned and started back the way they'd come from. As they passed the rose, another tear slipped from her eyes, and she felt as if the weight of the world had lifted off of her shoulders. She hadn't realised that she had been holding so tight to either of them.

"I showed you this because you have a new baby to love and care for. Also little Jack. Emily you are a fantastic person, and more so than that, a good mother. You don't need to worry about the baby anymore. He is fine."

Her heart felt light, and as she closed her eyes to squeeze out the rest of the tears, her mind went blank.

**

"Emily?" She could hear someone calling her name, and it sounded a lot like Aaron. Her thoughts felt heavy, and her stomach felt oddly empty and light.

Lifting her lead arm, she placed her hand on her stomach, and felt the flatness that was left there, and panic started to well in her.

"Emily." Aaron's voice again, this time it injected a shot of calm in her. He didn't sound panicked or at all worried so everything must be all right.

Forcing her eyes open, she was greeted to the sight of Aaron looking rumpled and dishevelled.

"Hi." She whispered.

Instantly his hand was on her cheek, and his lips spread open in a smile. "Hi." He whispered back as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her temple. "How are you feeling?"

His voice seemed to overflow with happiness, but she didn't want to talk about herself. She wanted to know about their baby, and where it was.

"Kilgore?" She asked, loving the way he grimaced and rolled his eyes at the pet name.

"She is fine."

"She?"

His face spread into an even wider smile as he pulled a chair close to her bed and sat down the same way he had before. "Yep, now you must stop calling our daughter 'Kilgore'." He laughed as he said the words, and she loved the way they sounded. _"Our Daughter." _She didn't know if she could be happier.

"Have you seen her?" She asked.

"No. I was waiting for you." He bent forward and pressed his lips softly against her forehead again, then leaning his forehead against hers. She felt a tear escape him, and she turned her head to press her lips against his.

"Can we see her?"

He nodded, and she reached up to wipe away her own tears. "Soon. The doctor said she was fine, that everything was good, they just want to run some tests because she was premature." He checked his watch, then kissed her softly again. "About another hour he said."

She nodded, and they sat that way for a while. As he kissed her again, he stood up and pulled his phone from his pocket. "I have to go call our friends and parents, let them know that you are all right, and that they can come back."

He turned and started to walk out of the room, and just as he was about out of the door she called his name. "Aaron."

"Yeah?" He turned and looked back at her, love and adoration filling his face.

"I love you."

He smiled and moved back to the bed kissing her softly once more. "I love you too Emily."

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Criminal Minds. Which is sad, because of all the things I'd like to own, CM is one of them. It makes Wednesday so much better._

_**AN: **__A few things. First off, thank you to all those who have reviewed. This is the first story I've put on the intwerwebs that has reached 100 reviews. You have no idea what that means to me._

_Secondly. Thank you to all of you who have given me medical advice. I did know all of that, but I needed to sensationalize it up to make it more exciting. Though I also know that any problem with pregnancy is dangerous, I took a few creative liberties to spice it up. It's a literary device. But again, thanks for your input._

_Thirdly. Please don't read too much into the dogma of this chapter. I have my beliefs and I'm sure you have yours. It's not my intention to offend anyone what-so-ever with this. Though again, I understand that some might take offence to it, fine, please keep those thoughts to yourself. _

_Fourth-ly. Tell me what y'all thought with a review. (By the way, did y'all notice that both Kilgore and Emily are fine? You didn't have to worry about that.)_

_Happy hunting._

_**AN2: **I just wanted to explain the 'Just Dance' of the last chapter. No, there is some meaning to it. For some, I'm talking real life here, life is much too stressful. I also understand that dancing is not easy. I'm also not talking about the dancing in stage, performing or as a career. I'm talking about turning up a great song and just having fun. That is the dance I am talking about. It's just like Lady Gaga says 'Just dance, it'll be all right.' And I believe it. There was no hidden meaning. I was just trying to give you a clue that everything would indeed be all right._


	13. Hotchner, blank Hotchner

"_**Everywhere I'm looking now I'm surrounded by your embrace, baby I can see your halo you know you're my saving grace. You're everything I need and more, it's written all over your face. Baby I can feel your halo, pray it won't fade away." Beyonce (Halo)**_

Never in her life had Emily felt more at ease and relaxed. The pain in her stomach notwithstanding, her entire being was at peace. Hotch had fallen asleep not five minutes ago, and his deep even breathing injected her with calm as she held her baby girl.

They hadn't come up with a name for her yet, and she found it didn't matter. Though normally she liked everything in her world to be in its place and know its name, looking down at her baby's beautiful brown eyes, she hadn't a care in the world. Truthfully they were waiting for Jack to get his input on the matter, but she could have her pretend for a few moments.

Cradling her baby against her chest, she tangled her fingers through Hotch's hair and rubbed small patterns with her fingertips. The team had opted to visit the next morning and bring Jack with them to give her and Hotch time alone with their new baby. Though Emily was sure that wasn't the whole reason behind the decision, she decided not to press her friends. They would reveal themselves in time, and right now she had all she needed. She was missing Jack, but she knew that he loved her.

"What should your name be little girl?" Hotch was right, they couldn't call her Kilgore. If she had been a boy then maybe, but not a little girl. Though he had agreed that if she was half as pretty as her mother, the baby would need a name like 'Kilgore' to keep the boys away. Any suitor was sure to have his hands full with Jack as a big brother, and Hotch as a father.

She got nothing in response except the batting of some long eye lashes, and a toothless yawn. Emily smiled, love filling her at the sight of her daughter.

There came a quiet knock at the door, and she looked up relishing the sight of one of her best friends in the world. JJ smiled at her as she moved into the room, having eyes only for the baby.

"Hi." She whispered, gently laying her hand on the baby's head.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?" She asked, still whispering. She bent down and kissed the baby's forehead, then stood back up.

"Fantastic." Emily knew that she was beaming with the word, she couldn't recall ever not feeling this way.

"Is he asleep?" She gestured to Hotch, a look of sisterly love on her face.

Emily was halfway through a nodded reply when his sleep addled voice broke the silence, eliciting a giggle from both women. "Nope. He's awake."

Emily pulled her hand from his hair and wrapped it around the baby. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he straightened and stretched his arms and back. Another wave of love shot through her, simply for the man beside her. She knew it was awfully cliché that it was an almost tragedy that preceded their confessions of love, but she didn't care. He had said the words, and she believed him.

The way his eyes lit up as they landed on hers, and then looked at their child were all the proof she needed that it hadn't been a deathbed confession.

"So you sleep, while Emily does all the work. Typical man." JJ's voice was laced with a teasing tone as she rounded the bed and enveloped him in a hug. Emily chuckled at Hotch's chuckle, and looked down at the baby. She had fallen asleep, and if Emily loved her when she was awake, it was nothing to how happy she looked asleep.

"Aaron can you put her back into the bed?" Because she was premature, the doctor had asked that anytime she was asleep, she be placed in the incubator. Oxygen was pumped into it, and it was just one of the things that would help her develop better. It had worried Emily a bit at first, but her doctor had taken great strides, and spent a lot of time convincing her that the baby was indeed fine.

Her arms felt empty and cold without the baby there, and it was all she could do to stop herself from reaching out and taking her back from him. As quickly as she had done that JJ had wrapped her arms around her and Emily leaned into the hug, her body and mind a sea of raging hormones.

"You can tell that baby is you and Hotch." JJ's voice was again light and teasing, but Emily detected an undercurrent of seriousness in them.

"How so?" She asked, curious as to what her friend could mean.

"Um hello, in the last year other than Reid and myself, the only times we've been called to the hospital is because of you, him, Jack or this beautiful baby girl." Behind JJ Hotch laughed loudly, and Emily looked confusedly at both of them. She couldn't see the humour in those situations. What was funny about being called to an emergency?

Not a lot that she could think of.

"Why are we laughing?" Morgan and Garcia walked into the room, and both flitted to her side and wrapped her in hugs.

"I honestly don't know." She replied, flitting her eyes to the side to check on the baby. She was still fast asleep, her little arms stretched up over head, a look of contentment on her face.

Before she knew what happened Hotch was by her side, sitting on the bed his arm wrapped around her tightly. She leaned into his side, happiness and the same contentment on her baby's face springing into her.

"Just a little hospital humour." His face was still laced with a laugh and she looked up at him. His face was smiling down at her and she couldn't help but smile back as he leaned down and kiss her on the lips.

"Oh please, you have a baby, doesn't mean you can get all PDA on us." JJ said the words but everyone started laughing, and Emily cringed when her cheeks heated with a rising blush.

"Daddy!" She heard Jack's voice peel through the room, and missed his warmth as soon as he left her side to pick him up.

"Hey buddy." Emily smiled as Hotch hugged Jack tightly, holding him almost reverently.

Watching them, she smiled even widen causing her cheeks to hurt as Jack's eyes met hers and his little body started wiggling as he tried to get out of his father's arms. "Em'ly!" he shouted, his excitement causing him to lapse into his nick name for her.

As Hotch put him down, he rushed to her bedside and as quickly as he had smiled, it faltered as his eyes landed on her stomach.

"Emily where's Kilgore?" His little face was the oddest combination of sadness, concern and fear as his eyes quickly scanned from her eyes to her stomach and back. She reached for him ignoring the pulling sensation in her stomach as she lifted him onto the bed beside her and pointing toward the baby.

His little hands gripped her arm, and his eyes followed her pointing hand towards the bassinet. His grip only tightened as his eyes widened and his concern melted into a smile as he climbed onto her lap to get a better look.

Whereas his voice had been loud when he'd gotten into the room, it dropped to a whisper as he asked, "Is Kilgore okay?"

Emily nodded and pulled him into her embrace. Looking up she saw that they had been joined by Reid and Rossi, who were both smiling at her holding Jack.

"So how is everybody?" Reid looked concerned and she offered him a special smile. It had been a long time since she and Reid had shared some special time, and she loved the boy. Though he was only eight years younger than she was, she felt kind of motherly over him.

"We are all good." Hotch answered sitting on her side once again wrapping his arm around her. Jack was cuddled tight into her chest, his eyes never leaving the baby.

"Name?" Rossi asked, and the whole group nodded, looking at her and her boys.

She looked up at Hotch and down at Jack, wondering what they were going to call her.

"Aren't we calling the baby Kilgore?" Jack asked innocently, leaning away from her.

"You want to call your baby sister Kilgore?" Hotch asked and a laugh rippled through the room, her friends all pressing a little bit closer to her bed. Not that she minded, quite the opposite really.

"A sister?" A look of repulsion crossed his face, but it quickly changed as his eyes softened, and his face smiled. "A sister."

"No cooties?" She asked amid another chorus of laughter.

"My sister doesn't have cooties. Nope." He shook his head and leaned farther away from her to get a better look.

"So name?" Morgan asked again, his arm wrapped around Garcia, who was nodding vigorously, while holding JJ's hand.

"Uh, we haven't really thought of one." Hotch answered for them, squeezing her shoulder with the hand that was wrapped around her shoulders.

"Speaking of which," JJ began holding something out to Hotch. She saw his credit card, and wondered why JJ had his credit card. "We, while Dave technically, decided that as our gift to you two and Jack, we will pay for your nursery."

"Nursery?" She asked confusedly and looked at Hotch who had gotten off the bed and wrapped his friend in a hug. "What nursery?"

"Oh peaches," Garcia began coming to her side. "It's gorgeous. Mister Derek and Senor Rossi painted the room a lovely shade of yellow. While he entrusted myself, Dr Reid and JJ to shop with his credit card. You'll love it. I love it, so of course you'll love it."

Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, Emily felt a tear fall from her eye. As quickly as it fell Jack's soft hand wiped it away and kissed her cheek, a large smile on his face.

"What are we gonna name the baby Emily?" He asked, his voice laced with concern as his eyes left her face and once again rested on the baby. Emily was proud of him, and knew that he must be controlling himself very well for him to not bounce over there and demand to hold her. The rest of the people in the room sounded their agreement, and she swallowed the emotion that was clogging her throat.

"I dunno Jack. What do you think we should call her?" She asked, and quickly Hotch and Morgan shook their heads in warning. She gave them each a funny look, wondering what they were thinking.

"Really? I can help?" His eyes searched hers, and he placed his hand on Hotch's arms, holding him close. She nodded, and he looked back to the baby a look of complete concentration on his face.

"I like..." He paused, small brown eyes working overtime. "Sarah. Sarah Hotchner." The room was instantly filled with silence, and she swallowed again. She hadn't known what was going on between her Hotch the previous months, but she knew; perhaps she always did, that the baby would have his last name.

"Sarah Hotchner, huh?" She replied easily without further hesitation. "Jack and Sarah, Sarah and Jack. I like that, but maybe you should ask your daddy."

"Why does he get a choice?" He asked innocently and the entire room laughed with a sigh of relief that the awkward moment had passed.

"Just because." He seemed to accept her logic and turned to Hotch who had a giant smile on his face, and was looking down at the two of them.

"Daddy can we call the baby Sarah Hotchner?"

His deep brown eyes searched hers and she tried to force all of the emotion she had for the man into her smile and slight nod. His return smile melted her heart, as he replied. "I think Sarah is a beautiful name buddy. Good job."

Jack seemed pleased with himself, and cuddled his little body closer to hers. She sank back into the pillows, and held Jack close as he interacted with the team. It wasn't long before she was feeling tired, and before she stopped it a yawn escaped her. JJ was the first to notice and stand to leave.

"Well kids, this has been fun, but Emily looks like she's ready to sleep, so I think it's time to make ourselves scarce."

One by one hugs and handshakes were shared as her friends left her alone with Hotch and Jack, her little Sarah still soundly asleep in her bassinet, little arms stretched above her head.

"Jack, I think it's time we left Emily alone to sleep." His hand had found its way into hers, and she gave his fingers a squeeze. She'd rather they stay, but he was two passed a shave, and he was wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing two days previous.

"But daddy, I didn't even get to hold the baby." Though his words were complaining, Jack's voice held no contempt for his father, and sounded as if he were merely arguing for an extra ten minutes before bedtime.

"We get to keep her forever Jack, you can hold her another day." Hotch answered his son, pulling his small body from Emily's arms and into his.

"Pfft." The noise drew a small laugh from Emily, and both of them turned to her with smiles on their faces.

"Don't worry Jack, soon enough you'll get annoyed with your new sister, and never want to hold her." Hotch said the words with a laugh, and Emily laughed with him, kissing both of their cheeks as Hotch leaned closer to them.

"See you tomorrow?" She asked, as Hotch brushed a small kiss to her lips.

"Bright and early." He smiled back.

Emily lay back in her pillows with one final look at Sarah, and closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift off to sleep. The last words she heard before she drifted off were:

"Don't be silly daddy. I'm gonna love Sarah forever, and I'll never get annoyed with her."

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I love Wednesdays. Know why? Because that's when Criminal Minds, which I don't own, is on. Also, and come April, I'll start to hate Wednesdays then, Bones, CSI:New York, Glee and Lost, again, none of which I own. Second thought, I freaking adore Wednesdays._

_**AN: **Sorry about the delay. Work has been brutal. Like I'mma pop a cap in someones gluteus maximus brutal. For serious guys.  
But here is the next installment. My life should resemble normal, well normal for me, this week, so here's hoping for at least two chapters. I've got two great ideas, let's just hope that I can get them out.  
But right now, I've got to go see a man about a horse. Actually I'm going to eat a doughnut and watch an episode of 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.'  
BTW. I decided to name the baby before I watched that. I like the way that sounds... Sarah Hotchner. It's nice. Like an ice cold Dr Pepper on a hot summer day... at vistors night at camp...  
Crap. I just drooled on my keyboard._

_Happy hunting y'all._


	14. Questions Answers

__

**"So we keep waiting (waiting), waiting on the world to change. We keep on waiting (waiting) waiting on the world to change." - John Mayer (Waiting On The World to Change)**

September

Hotch sat shirtless on his couch, exhaustion overtaking his body. It had only been four week since the baby had been born, but he couldn't recall ever being more tired. Not that he minded in the least, but his body was demanding sleep, and his mind wouldn't give it.

Emily had come back to his apartment with him and Jack and she had stayed, like she had before Sarah made her grand entrance. He knew for a fact now that he loved her, had known it before but was stupid and hadn't said anything. He may have made the spontaneous proclamation of love when he thought he was losing her, but he had meant it with all his heart.

Now he just needed to say the other words that would, for as long as they wanted, keep them in the same house. He wanted her to live with him, officially. They would need a bigger house obviously, but for now he just had to ask her if she wanted to live with him and Jack.

Officially.

As his mind ran over countless facts, his hands rolled an empty tumbler, the cool glass a welcome relief to his tired hands. Normally he would be nursing a half glass of scotch on this sleepless night, but since Emily wasn't allowed to drink he said he wouldn't. Habit forced the glass into his hand while discipline kept him from filling it.

"Daddy?" Suddenly Jack's small voice filled the room with a whisper, and Hotch turned quickly, another protective habit of his to ensure his son was safe.

"On the couch buddy." He called back in an equally soft whisper.

Jack's small feet made barely any noise as he walked to the couch and rounded it, holding his arms up so that Hotch would know he wanted to be held. So he lifted the boy into his arms and sat him on his lap facing him.

A smile rose unhindered to Hotch's face as he took in Jack's features. He looked so like his mother that for a long time it hurt to look at him. Now, Hotch was glad for the resemblance. Jack had his protective instincts, and the rest of him was Haley. Her sense of humour, her strength and best of all, her ability to love. Hotch would always be thankful that Haley gave him Jack, and protected him even when he, Hotch, failed to protect her.

"Why are you awake buddy?" He asked, wrapping his hands around Jack's lower back, encircling him in his arms.

Jack's small fingers trailed his scars, and Hotch shivered. He had done it before, said that the proved his daddy was a hero. Hotch would rather Jack didn't see the wounds, preferred to keep that part of him hidden, but Jack didn't understand the implications of what they represented.

Hotch rued the day when Jack's mind would form the question, "Why did George kill mommy and not you?" Hotch wondered the same, though he knew the answer. Or at least he thought he knew. He suspected on more than one occasion that he had more in common with Foyet than the mirrored scars on his chest.

"I heard Emily singing to Sarah, and I just couldn't fall back asleep. I was coming to sleep with you. You always make me sleep better Daddy." Hotch smiled at the simple confession, patted Jack's back.

They sat in silence for a while, each with their own thoughts, Jack's small fingers still tracing his upper torso, his eyes glued to the red marks contrasted against his skin.

"Daddy?" Jack began a slight note of hesitation in his voice.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Hesitation still lined his voice, but underneath it, Hotch sensed a bit of assuredness in his son. Haley's strength indeed.

"Anything." He nodded.

His small face became lined with concentration and his fingers stilled as his entire focus was on what he wanted to say. Hotch wasn't afraid of a breakdown. One had happened, not long after that day, but it had been the only instance where Jack had shown anything but strength. If Hotch were honest, and he was, Jack had handled it a lot better than he had.

He wasn't showing any of the signs of a breakdown, though that in and of itself was usually a sign as well. But then he couldn't exactly be sure. Jack had a lot to handle recently. His first major encounter with a 'bad guy', and received his first set of stitches for the ordeal. A new sibling, which though he claimed to love and adore, which Hotch also believed, had to be upsetting. Though neither him nor Emily had purposely ignored him Jack, with a baby around it just kind of happened.

Still though, Hotch worried about Jack. Not just his physical safety, but his mental and emotional as well.

"It's my birthday tomorrow right?" Not what he had been expecting with the concentration and contemplation, but it had been a big question.

He nodded and shivered as Jack's fingers started moving again. Though the subject of gifts hadn't come up yet, the subject of a party had. They had planned a big celebration with the kids from his school, a bouncy castle and lots of cake, Jack had insisted on a barbeque with his aunts and uncles.

Hotch knew that he got his need for privacy from him, but he couldn't begrudge him that. Though it had shocked him at first to have a five year olds party without other five year olds, he would do what Jack wanted, whatever he wanted. He wanted hotdogs and swimming with Hotch's team, he would get hotdogs and swimming with his daddy's team.

Before Hotch had a chance to respond Jack asked, "Is Emily my mommy now?"

That floored him. He had wondered what Jack thought of Emily and the baby, but he hadn't known that's where his thoughts were. Once again, Jack was way ahead of him in regards to his relationship with Emily.

"Why do you ask?" He questioned, hoping to gain some insight to the workings of his young sons mind.

"You're my daddy, and you're Sarah's daddy, but Emily is Sarah's mommy, and my mommy is gone." Though his words conveyed a great deal of sadness none of that was evident in his demeanour or tone of voice. His eyes though betrayed the firm set of his face and showed the sadness that he was feeling.

"I know you miss her buddy. I do to." He whispered, and Jack briefly leaned in and hugged him before quickly leaning back and resuming his tracing patterns.

"Would you like Emily as a mommy?"

"She reads stories good, and she hugs real good too." Hotch liked the simple evaluation of her qualities. It wasn't that she was nice, or friendly, it was how her quality of a mother she was. He wished all relationships were that simple. "And she's just as pretty as my mommy, which is good." That caused a laugh to bubble through him.

"But would it hurt mommy's feelings if Emily were my new mommy?"

He didn't know how to answer that question. Haley's last request played through his mind, and he knew instantly that her feelings wouldn't be hurt. If Haley was anything, she was all about loving and protecting Jack, Jack liking a woman enough to be asking these questions would be a good thing.

"I don't know buddy. I know that mommy loved you very, very much and that she would be happy that you care about another lady. But I don't think it would hurt her feelings."

"I could still love my mommy, right?" There was the uncertainty he was feeling. Hotch knew that Jack already loved Emily, knew it without a doubt, but he wasn't afraid of loving both of them. Hotch was sure that he was afraid of the betrayal of the act of having Emily as a mother. Because having one meant you couldn't have the other.

"Jack, no matter what Emily is to you, you can always," he emphasized his next words as much as he could. "Always love your mommy."

Jack didn't respond right away, instead turned away from Hotch staring out the window. His son was as cryptic as he was, and he found it a little unnerving. Though his questions were forthright, and the implications behind them were as well, Hotch found that he really didn't know as much about Jack's thoughts as he assumed he did.

"Does Emily love me?" Jack whispered without turning back to him, and Hotch wrapped him in his arms, cradling him against his chest. That was an easy question.

"Yes she does. Very much."

Jack nodded, and Hotch could feel him smile. "Can I sleep with you tonight daddy?"

"Sure." With that, Hotch sat up, still holding Jack in his arms. It was odd to carry his weight when he'd been carrying the baby so much, but he found that it was a welcome one against him. Holding Jack close to him always added an extra sense of security to Hotch heart, knowing that when he was this close little to no danger could come to Jack.

They moved through the apartment turning off the few lights that were on, and they stopped by the nursery to check on Sarah. Jack looked down at her, and a smile spread his cheeks so wide that Hotch wondered if it hurt.

Once in the room, he walked softly hoping that Emily was still asleep, and wasn't at all surprised to find that she wasn't.

"Hey guys." She whispered, filling the comfortable silence that filled the room.

Hotch placed Jack on the bed first, and watched as Emily rolled over and Jack cuddled himself as close to her as he could get. She kissed his forehead as Hotch put a t-shirt on and climbed into bed with them, positioning himself right next to Jack's side.

They lay in silence for a while, Hotch's hand over Jack and on Emily's hip, while one of her hands was wrapped around Jack and the other was crossed over his head and tangled in Hotch's hair.

Out of the darkness Jack whispered, "I love you Emily. I love you daddy."

Together the whispered, "I love you too Jack" and one by one they feel asleep, their little family together with the baby monitor's red light indicating Sarah's presence within all of their hearts.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I love Jack. Daniels that is. Which isn't even true. I don't own Criminal Minds. Which is depressing. Aw heck, bring on the Jack! First rounds on me. (Only for those of you who are of leagal age in your respective residential area. You youngens get some Dr Pepper.)_

_**AN: **I didn't know exactly what to do with thise chapter. So it is what it is, and there ain't no if's, and's or but's about it. Okay, well there may be a few of those, so whatever. Just forgetta'boud it.  
Thank you to all you reviewers out there. You guys (or gals) make me smile. Also, to you people that do read and don't review that's cool too. Fanfiction is all about the love. Or in this case, the questioning of love.  
I probably shouldn't do this, but all you 'Castle' lovers out there, I need your help. I have an idea for a story, but it's seems to dry and cliche to me. (Actually you can all comment on this.) Would having Castle get shot be an overdone thing? I mean I couldn't find any real ones like that. Though I suppose that I haven't looked very hard either, but either way. What do you guys think? I'd kind of like to know._

_Happy hunting y'all. (OMG The Fray just came on my iTunes, I FREAKING LOVE THE FRAY!_


	15. Never Walk Away Angry

_**"We all lose faith at one point or another." - Sarah Connor - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.**_

_November_

"JJ, you are a lifesaver. Seriously you have no idea." Emily Prentiss called over her shoulder as she walked out of her friend's house. She had a plan, a plan that involved loud noises and some serious alone time.

Her mind was swirling with X-Rated visions of her and Aaron.

"Don't worry Em. When me and Will want a night out, we know who owes us one." Emily nodded quickly to her blonde friends words and practically ran down the brownstone stairs and to her SUV. She needed to escape before JJ changed her mind.

One child was easy, two wasn't so bad either, but three kids all five and under would be insane. Emily loved her kids, honestly she did, but she really wanted some alone time with their father.

In essence she was really, really, well... horny to be colloquial.

She really wanted to be colloquial, too.

Sliding up into the driver's seat she leaned her head back against the headrest and smiled, her visions causing tendrils of heat to spiral throughout her core and lower. Wishing she could speed up time, she headed back home to prepare dinner and slip into something a little more comfortable.

A statement that she didn't fully understand. What she was planning on wearing while they ate dinner and proceeded with their night alone wasn't at all comfortable. It was drafty, thing and a little more than a little slutty. Which was what she was going for. Besides, if she got her way she wouldn't be wearing it for very long, so comfort didn't really matter.

She liked calling it home, Aaron's apartment. He had asked her to move in officially, and she had almost cried on him. She blamed the hormones at first, but she knew it was really her emotions. It's not like they weren't already living together, it was like he said, officially. So she had officially sub letted her apartment, sold all of her furniture and moved the things she cared about in his apartment.

It was cramped, sure, but she didn't really mind. She was living with the man she loved, their beautiful daughter and his bright, caring son who loved her as much as she loved him.

Jack had seriously sat her down and tried to have a grown up, his words, conversation with her about what role she would play in his life. Her heart had melted the entire time as she watched his internal struggle with what he was saying.

_*_

"_Emily," he started, doing his best impersonation of his father, which was actually done quite well. "I think that you should be my new mommy."_

_She knew that if his expression betrayed what he was feeling, he was certainly sure of his words. Like his father, his face betrayed little of what he was actually feeling, and all that he really intended was said with his tone of voice. Jack spoke strong and clear, his little face had broken into a smile when his first sentence was complete, causing her own face to turn to one._

"_Why is that Jack?" She asked, playing along with his serious note. She knew that this was a big deal for him, so she wanted to belittle it as much as she could. Coddling him would just make him feel bad about himself, and she really didn't want that in this instance._

"_Well, Daddy is Sarah's daddy, and he is my daddy too. You are Sarah's mommy, and like I told Daddy, my mommy is gone." His voice hitched on the last few words and for her first motherly act she wanted to pull him into her arms and protect him from that hurt that he was still obviously feeling._

_Instead, she waited for him to come to her as she opened her arms accepting him onto her lap. He snuggled his little body close, and as she had done many times before she held him tightly and close to her chest._

"_Jack, I would love to be your new mommy." She whispered into his hair, giving him a soft kiss._

_*_

She smiled remembering the way he hugged her back, giving her cheek a soft kiss. He hadn't started calling her mommy, and she often wondered if he ever would. No matter what he called her, she would try to love him as much as Haley had. Though she knew she would never replace Haley, nor was she trying to, Jack would always have all that he needed from her.

Instead of reliving the past, she concentrated on this night and prepared the apartment for what she was hoping for. She cleaned their home top to bottom, changed the sheets and blankets on their bed, and filled the room with candles. She cooked his favourite meal and opened his favourite bottle of wine, with a one glass limit. She also prepared his favourite drink, knowing that he had abstained from his scotch like he promised he would.

Then she waited.

She didn't have to wait long, she had conned Derek into forcing Aaron out of the office early, Reid was in on it too, and as she heard his key slid into the lock her body hummed in anticipation.

She had planned a _Pretty Woman _greeting, but she couldn't wait that long for him to come in, so she propelled herself out of her chair and towards him as he came in the door.

She claimed his lips and the dull sound of his briefcase hitting the floor met her ears as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Clumsily they deepened the kiss and shut the door his body pressing against hers in the same fashion of the conception of their baby.

God she loved this man.

His body pressed against hers, a smile leapt to her face unchecked as he broke the kiss and pulled back, the same smile lining his own lips.

"Hi." He whispered.

"Welcome home." She whispered back once again pressing her lips to his in a soft kiss that was legions less passionate from the one they had just shared. Though wholly unsatisfying after that greeting, Emily held herself in check, simply part of her game of seduction for the night.

She pushed him away with some difficulty but he relented with a raised eyebrow and a ridiculously sexy look of confusion on his face.

She walked away from him, purposely swaying her hips with extravagance as she headed towards the kitchen. "Dinner is ready." She called over her shoulder, not mothering to look back. His sharp intake of breath and the slight cough he let out telling her all she needed to know about how affected they both were by that kiss.

*

"Emily, there is something I want to ask you about." His voice had gone through many variations of seriousness and giddiness through the evening, but even Emily could tell that this was something else entirely. His face looked as if he was struggling with something, and as she was straddling his hips as they made out like teenagers on the couch, she had to wonder what it was.

"What?" She asked simply, replacing her lips on the hollow of his neck, eliciting a low moan from his throat.

"No... Oh that feels good." He sighed as she moved her lips up to the sensitive skin just below his ear. "No, this is serious."

She listened to him this time, pulling away from him, but staying in his lap. "Okay."

"I tried asking you about this once," he began, swallowing deeply, and she knew instantly what he was talking about. Though she hadn't had many major issues with the baby she had given up, she thought of the boy from her dream/vision thing and smiled, knowing that he was okay.

She'd forgotten that she hadn't told him about that, but instead of interrupting him, she hesitated hoping that he wouldn't bring it up. She was okay with it for the most part now, but that didn't mean she wanted to talk about it.

"The doctor told me that you had abortion scars." She sighed, and he stopped talking, looking at her. She nervously played with his loosened tie, suddenly feeling exposed in her red satin teddy.

"Yeah." She replied in a statement rather than question.

"I was just wondering if you were ever going to explain it to me." She nodded to his question, reaching up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She knew she had no need to feel nervous about telling him. He was generally and understanding man, but his tone of voice frightened her a little. She knew that he and Haley had tried several times to have a baby, and she was starting to wonder if he viewed her actions as a mistake.

"When I was younger, I got pregnant. I wasn't ready to be a mother, so I did the only other thing left." She replied in a whisper.

"The only other thing left?" He repeated. The look on his face caused her to slip off of his lap. When she did, he moved a little bit away from her. The distance wasn't much, but even the inch between them caused a chill to overcome her.

She wrapped her arms around her middle in a vain attempt to warm herself up. Never, in all the times had she imagined his reaction, had she thought the anger he was radiating now would be the way he responded to her actions as a child.

"Yes Aaron, it was the only other option at the time." She knew her voice sounded weak, when she wanted to be strong. Even to this day she didn't regret the decision, admittedly she had worried over it, but it was the only option at the time. Or it had seemed like it in the heat of the emotions she was feeling. Jon had abandoned her and she was already alienated from her high society parents.

Plus she was fifteen, a child herself how could she carry another to term?

"No." His single syllable answer was drenched in anger, and she saw it fall off of him as he stood and moved away from her.

Maybe it was the hormones still affecting her as she felt herself shrink away from him. She knew that she was reacting the wrong way, that she was stronger than this, that their love could overcome it, but her mind wasn't listening to her heart, and her heart was telling her that she should run away.

"It was an accident Aaron."

"An accident? An accident? Like Sarah?"

"That's not fair Aaron." She replied immediately. She was twenty years older, and probably wiser than she had been then. Plus she hadn't asked him for anything, so he really had no right to be treating her this way.

It was then that the indignation hit her. She would not tolerate being treated this way by a man that claimed that he loved her. She stood as well, but instead of standing with her hands on her hips like she was, she walked to the nursery and picked up the diaper.

He didn't say anything as he followed her around, and she refused to say another word to him when he was treating her like a misbehaving child. She knew that she was being childish, but she really just wanted to get away from him and his accusing stare.

Grabbing the first trench coat that she could find, she slipped it on over her teddy and put on her running shoes, a huge symbol to the fact that she was running away from him and this conversation.

"Where are you going?" He demanded.

"Away." Was her only response as she pulled open the door and walked into the hallway. She remarked that this was the first time that she was walking away from him angry, and as he called her name she fought the urge to turn around and run back to him.

It wasn't the obvious lack of anger in his voice that made her want to turn, or the logic that she shouldn't just run away because they were arguing. She wanted to turn back to him because she felt her heart cracking with every step she took away from him.

It wasn't until she was safely locked in her SUV with her head resting against the steering wheel that she gave into her hearts longing and broke down.

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **Nope, still don't own it. Drats._

_**AN: **I'm so sorry about this. Really I am. You have no idea.  
Like none. But you'll forgive me right?  
I sure hope so... because the next chapter is a doozy.  
In a good way. I hope.  
Sorry about the long wait by the way. Stuff just kind of happened.  
Well, honestly, Castle happened.  
So there you go._

_Despite how horrible this chapter is to our souls, could you leave me a review?  
Flames will be accepted._

_Happy hunting._


	16. Lost and Found

**_"Half the time the world is ending,  
truth is I am done pretending.  
I never thought that I, had any more to give.  
Pushing me so far, here I am without you.  
Drink to all that we have lost.  
Mistakes we have made  
Everything will Change  
But love remains the same."  
-- Love Remains The Same -- Gavin Rossdale_**

Emily Prentiss was getting seriously tired of not being at work. Though being at work wouldn't be any more enjoyable right now, she had agreed to a longer leave when she was on good terms with her boss.

Technically she wasn't even on speaking terms with her boss, but that was neither here nor there.

Coincidently her boss also happened to be her... well she didn't know what to call him.

Right now he was just the guy that she was mad at, and also very much in love with. She knew that she had made a mistake walking away from him, knew it was a mistake even as he was doing it, but that hadn't stopped her. She'd always been good at compartmentalising, but she was also very bad at boxing in her temper.

And it had been her temper that forced her, scantily glad, out of their house.

It had been her wounded pride that had stopped her from taking his phone calls. She had called him twice a week, but always to talk to Jack. Even when he stopped by JJ and Will's house, where she was staying, for Jack to visit Sarah, and for him to spend an hour with her, they exchanged little.

She knew that hiding from him had to be part of that lack of communication, but she was ashamed of herself. Even though she knew that her choices in the past were nothing to be ashamed of, and she wasn't normally, but when he had looked at her the way he had, she felt like shivering.

Or sinking into a giant black that would never release her from its shadowy depths. But she wasn't picky either way.

But looking down at her sleeping baby, Emily wondered what had bothered him. She knew it had something to do with her conception, but that was in the past, which she also had deduced was part of the problem.

At the other end of the house her cell phone rang and she quickly, but silently, ran for it knowing it might be JJ or Will. Picking up the blackberry she sighed when she saw the caller ID brightly shout at her 'Hotch'.

After a long internal debate, she hit ignore and set the phone down, wishing that she were much more mature and courageous.

Seconds later it rang again and she half heartedly wished it was Aaron so that she could talk to him. She missed him, desperately, in all the ways that she had gotten used to him. She missed his body beside her in bed, she missed the way he loved and cared for his children, missed the way he held her.

But most of all, she missed the way his gravelly voice soothed her when she was tired and sleepy and he was holding her close.

Instead of 'Hotch' the caller ID read 'JJ' and she picked up instantly.

"Hey JJ." She said into the phone.

"Emily hi. Please don't be mad." JJ's words confused Emily and she nodded. JJ didn't go on, and Emily realised that she was probably waiting for her to respond verbally.

"I'll try." She responded walking back towards the room she was sharing with her daughter.

"Hotch really needs to talk to you."

"JJ I don't- Hello Aaron."

Her ex-best friend had handed the phone off mid sentence and Emily knew that her blonde friend would be getting an earful when they were back in the same room.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, but this is an emergency." She could tell that he was serious by his desperate tone, and all of her emotions flew out the window and she gripped her phone tighter.

She may be mad at him, but she was still very much in love with him, therefore concerned with his safety.

"What's wrong Aaron?" She asked, feeling her own tone become desperate in such a small time.

"Jack is missing." Her body shifted into drive, already moving to collect her baby and Henry who she had been watching for her hosts while they were both at work.

"How long?" Straight facts for right now, when what she really wanted to do was console the worry in him. Jack had been his lifeline for so long, that Aaron must be hurting something fierce.

Suddenly she felt guilty for abandoning him. Jack had already taken a lot of her guilt, but now she realised that she had left more than the small Hotchner.

"I'm not sure. Jessica just said that she was on the phone with her husband while Jack was playing, the next second she went to give him his juice and he was gone. Jacket, mitts, boots, even George was gone."

Emily thanked their lucky stars that Jack had been smart enough to grab his winter clothing when he decided to run away. His dinosaur made sense too, Jack had been clutching that thing for so long Emily was surprised that George was in as good as condition as he was.

"Okay, I'm just wrapping up the children and I'll head over to the office."

She was about to hang up when his quiet voice filled her ear. "Emily, I know that isn't the right time, or that this will even be enough." He swallowed and she knew that he was about to apologize.

She also realised that she didn't need to hear it. "Aaron. I'll see you soon. And we'll find him."

"Thank you."

She hung up the phone and finished getting the kids ready.

"Momma?" Henry asked pointing to the picture of JJ and Will that was hung on the wall in his room.

"Yes sir, we are going to see momma." She smiled at the boy as he cooed and squealed with delight. At two and a half years old he was able to say a lot of words, but his favourite was 'momma' and he said it all the time.

*

"Thanks Garcia." She said locking the children in her office with her while she went to join her team. Though this wasn't a case, the entire office was ready to run into the world and find Jack. It didn't matter that it was a case, it was family, and that would move their FBI world.

Once in the conference room, quick hugs were shared all around, except with Aaron who just placed a hand on arm, and whispered 'later'.

"Okay," he began, the worry in his voice no match for the worry on his face. "Jessica was running around the neighbourhood looking for him when she called, but no luck. I don't know where else he would go."

Morgan and Reid were already moving out the door jackets in hand. "We'll go help Jessica canvass the neighbourhood again. Updates every twenty minutes."

"Thanks guys." Hotch called after them. Emily frowned at the tone of his voice. This Hotch worried her a little bit. Normally he was this string tower of strength and poise, but right now he looked very much the scared and falling apart parent that he was.

"Hotch, me and JJ are going to do the cursory sweep of the bus terminals and train stations. I doubt he'll be there but we'll do it anyway."

Emily watched as Rossi and JJ left, walking briskly towards the elevators. Turning to Hotch she noticed his hands where resting on the back of a chair, his entire body slumped forward with desperation and she did the only thing she could think of.

She rounded the table and pulled him into her arms. The change in him was instantaneous. Where he had been trying to be strong, he showed himself to be weak, where he'd been keeping a straight face, he let his features fall.

"It'll be okay Aaron." She whispered into his ear, stroking his hair.

*

Three hours they had been searching and nothing. Three hours without any sign of Jack. She had sent Aaron back home to wait for him there, and she'd taken over co-ordinating his team. She'd sent JJ to be with him, and the boys were still out in the world looking for the boy.

Three hours was a long time to be outside. Though it wasn't bitterly cold, it was still November in DC and the thick layer of snow on the ground proved that it was indeed winter. Luckily it was still the afternoon and the sun was shining in the cloudless sky.

Emily was getting frustrated with their inability to find the boy, and more importantly she was getting frustrated with herself. She had crumpled easily regarding her anger towards Hotch, but she knew that a house built on sand fell with the first rain.

Passing the park she had been avoiding since Jack's little adventure, she decided to pull in. It had been a place that Jack knew well, and perhaps he had returned there, a source where he'd proven himself to be a man rather than a boy.

Though she knew he was a scared little boy right now, he'd been trying so hard for so long to grow up so fast, and Emily wanted to help him do that. Which meant that she had to find him first.

Pulling into the parking lot she looked at the near empty playground and was instantly filled with joy. On the same play set where he faced down a 'bad-guy' Jack sat, his breath throwing little white clouds into the air, and his feet swinging. Leaving the car on, she rushed over to him, slowing when she neared him.

"Hey Jack." She said tentatively not knowing what he would do to her unexpected presence.

"Hi Emily." He responded, his voice soft and scared.

"How are you doing?" She asked sitting beside him on the cold play equipment. Quickly she sent a text to JJ telling her that she had found him, and to wrangle in the troops. This day didn't need to be longer than it already was.

"A little cold." He still sounded the scared little boy, but the set of his face told her he was trying to be the grown up he wanted to be.

"Do you want to go sit in the car?"

"Will you make me go see Daddy?"

Now she was confused. "Not if you don't want me to." Of course she was lying, he had to go home, but she figured she could take an hour to figure out why he was obviously angry with his father.

"Okay." She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tight, as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her just as tightly. She placed him in the front seat and removed his toque and mitts, but left his jacket zipped up. His cheeks were red, and his body shivered as she'd held him, so despite her comfort she turned the heat up and hoped he would warm up.

"Why don't you want to see your Daddy?"

"I'm mad at him."

"Why Jack?" She was sure she knew, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"He said that we would have Sarah forever, and that you loved me very much, and you left and so did Sarah." He said it straightforward, and Emily could tell that he wanted to cry by the way that he was biting his bottom lip.

"Jack I do love you very much."

"Then why did you go?" His lower lip trembled slightly and he turned his face away from her.

She couldn't explain that to a five year old. She didn't even know why she had left. Anger, emotion, embarrassment, these were little things to a child, and he probably wouldn't understand that she was mad at his father not him. To him, she had left him, Jack, and that was the issue.

But then she couldn't promise him forever anymore, either. She wanted to, dear God, she wanted to. She wanted to stay with him and his father forever, but she knew that was wishful thinking considering the situation she found herself in.

"I dunno Jack. But I'm very, very sorry." She felt her own tears welling, and when he turned back to her, a small smile on his face slightly covering the tremble, she hoped that he would be able to forgive her. With his smile, she knew she should tread carefully, but she also knew that Aaron was probably going crazy now, and the only medicine was his son safe in his arms.

"Jack, if we go see daddy now, I promise that me and Sarah will stay and make you supper." She hoped he would accept the bribe. Her mother had been right the way to a man's, or boys, heart was through his stomach.

"Can we have pancakes?" He asked, hope seeping into his voice, the tremble completely gone.

"We can have whatever you want." She responded quickly.

A full smile broke his face and she nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. As she fastened his seatbelt, she pressed another kiss to his forehead and wiped the few tears from his eyes, love filling her heart for him.

"Let's go home then."

* * *

_I need to apologize to anyone who reads this. I am horrible.  
The bug of writers-lock has bit me and I am basically useless.  
This chapter is horrible, and it took the better part of four days to do.  
So sorry.  
For those of you reading my Castle story. Sorry. I'm working on it.  
Or I'm trying to.  
I'm pathetic right now, and kind of having a pity party.  
Please don't mind me._


	17. Scars

Surreal. That's what this was. Having her here, in his house, again, was surreal. It's not that it hadn't happened every night in his dreams, well technically every night since she'd left- he'd run her off?- but to actually have it happen? Surreal.

But, there she was, their daughter settled between her and his son, the three of them quietly reading while he did the dishes. Not that he minded, the scene was the perfect picture of domesticity that he loved for his family, but it was, after all, surreal.

Hotch could hear snippets of the book she was reading him, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, _he believed, and he tried desperately to hear her soft voice over the clink of the dishes he was no longer drying. Then, abandoning the task all together, he joined them on the couch, wondering if he was welcome on his own leather lazy-boy, snack strewn as it was.

"Hi daddy," Jack said in his soft, all too sweet little boys voice, as he lifted the six year old off the couch and placed him in his lap, Emily having readjusted Sarah into her lap, while maintaining her control over the novel in her hand and her even tone as she kept reading, Jack stretching his body across his accommodating fathers lap and into that of his baby sister and his surrogate mothers lap.

"_Should I say something?" _He questioned himself. _"I'm sorry would be a good start." _He answered himself. The internal battle raged as Hotch listened, Emily read, and in no time at all, both of their children fell fast asleep. As much as Hotch wanted to maintain this moment, the four of them a picture out of "Home and Living," Emily soft recitation was interrupted by the harmonious snores of the two children in their laps.

"We should put them to bed." Aaron looked up, into the soft brown eyes he loved, the face he adored and wanted nothing more than to lean over and capture her lips with his, but he wasn't sure it was his right anymore.

"We should," she replied. By unspoken agreement, she took Sarah, he carried an ever growing Jack to the race car bed, and within minutes they met back in the hall, two soft even breaths meeting them in the hall.

"Hi." He whispered. Hoping against all hope that she wouldn't slap him, which was her right, and instead just say hi back. A guy could hope. Couldn't he?

"Hi," she whispered back. "I should go."

Aaron was a little shocked, and took a miniscule step back, trying desperately not to sound desperate as he begged her to stay. Without begging her as well.

"Thank you, Emily, for finding him." He said, a little loudly before covering his mouth with his hand, a smile gracing her features as she smiled at his actions.

"It was nothing. Honestly Aaron, looking back it was the most obvious place he would be. But looking back, profiling a six year old is pretty difficult."

They both laughed at that, and Aaron was relieved to see her lean back against the doorframe to Sarah's room, and he did likewise to Jack's, hoping once more that she would be staying.

"I'm sorry, Emily. I know that's not enough, I just, I'm so sorry."

Instantly she was in his arms. Knowing that this wasn't the response that he'd been expecting, but she had wanted to be there for so long. His hesitation was miniscule, but as he wrapped his strong arms around her, his hands resting at the bottom of her hips, on the top of her bottom, a familiar position for the two of them.

"It's okay Aaron." She whispered into his neck, breathing deeply of his scent, keeping her face buried in his neck and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"No it's not okay; I shouldn't have let you leave. I should have followed you, I should have..." For him, this was rambling.

She pulled back, and looked him in the eye "No. Well, maybe yes, to all of that, but no. This is okay."

"Let's move away from the sleeping children." She said again, pulling him with her, back towards the bedroom.

She gripped his fingers in her, and when they sat together on the couch, she was practically in his lap as she faced him, his arms firmly around her as they looked at each other.

"What happened?" She asked, holding him tightly to her, wanting to hear his whole story.

"You and I, we got pregnant off of one drunken night." She nodded, running her fingers through the tendrils of hair at his, soothing then tension that had come into his body as he started talking.

"Not that I mind, we got Sarah, and somewhat on an even level, I got you, but it's Sarah. Haley and I tried for so long, so hard to have a baby, and Jack's pregnancy was a difficult one."

"So?" She asked, wondering what he was getting at.

"I think I got mad and wrongly so, that you had given that away." She could feel the tension come back into his body, but since that weird dream in the hospital, she'd learn to be okay with what she'd done. She doesn't regret it, never will if that baby boy and Matthew were together, but she also wouldn't trade Aaron, Sarah and Jack for those memories.

"I'm sorry I just assumed." He said, leaning his head forward to kiss her cheek, and she turned and leaned her forehead against his.

"Do you want to know the story?" She asked him, fingers digging into the muscles in his shoulders, working out the tension there.

He nodded and, wrapped his arms more tightly around her.

"I was young, trying to be popular in a new place, and the way to do that was sex. I was a teenager, hardly ready to be a parent, so I did what I had to. I know that it's hard for some people, but I don't regret it. I wish sometimes, to have met the baby, but he's in a better place now."

His body didn't move or tense, just shifted itself closer to her, and it was him who rested against her, breathing her in. She thought it was a little odd that they had shifted from not talking to sitting on his lap on the couch, but she had missed this, just being with him.

"I'm sorry I judged you." He said softly to the skin of her neck.

"Me too Aaron." She said, turning to kiss him softly on the lips.

He kissed her back, and she turned more fully into him, missing the way that their bodies fit together, and the way that he filled all that was within her. Though sex was definitely off the table for right now, she missed this.

"Emily?" He broke his lips away from hers, and she gazed into the endless depths of his chocolatey eyes, and felt the love that she ad for the man.

"Yes Aaron?"

"I love you. More than anything in the world."

"Except your kids, right?" She teased him.

He got a thoughtful look on his face, and opened his hand, the rough tips of his fingers playing at the hemline of her shirt, and barely scraping the skin there.

"Maybe." He replied, kissing her again.

They stayed that way for a while, softly kissing each other, their motions not going any farther than that, when her phone rang through the apartment. She jumped from his lap quickly to gather the offending device and its loud noises, but it was too late Sarah cried awake, and Aaron rushed to their baby as she answered the phone.

"Prentiss."

"Emily, are you okay?" JJ's voice rang through the phone, the worry evident in her tone and question.

"Yeah, JJ, I'm sorry. I'm with Aaron." Just then Sarah's wail cut through the apartment. "And the now awake kids."

"Sorry Em, you just didn't call, and haven't come back yet. You okay there?" She asked, the worry gone from her voice, and the gentle teasing back in it.

"We were fine, then you called." She replied, teasing back.

"Fine then. Details in the morning." Emily clicked her phone off, just in time to a sleepy faced Jack, rubbing his eyes and yawning coming out of his room. Pocketing the phone, she went to him and picked him up, cradling his small body against hers, felt happiness bubble through her as he laid his head against her shoulder.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing up?" She asked him, rubbing her hand up and down her back, a time tested method to make the small boy fall back to sleep.

"Sarah's loud when she cries." He said, sleep already coming back into his voice and body.

"I know, let's get you back to bed."

"Wanna sleep in daddy's bed." He mumbled.

She walked him down the hall towards the bedrooms, holding him tight, never stopping her movements on his back.

They met in the hall, Aaron with Sarah, a bottle in her mouth who was already half asleep, and her with Jack, who was also almost back to sleep.

"He said he wants to sleep in your bed."

"Who was on the phone?" They spoke at the same time, laughing a little.

"JJ."

He nodded and motioned with his head into the bedroom, and back to his bed.

"Put him down."

Emily did as asked, and moved into his room, skilfully pulling back the covers and laying Jack's small body under the blankets, but he wouldn't let her go. "Stay, momma." Jack sleep mumbled, and Emily's heart melted.

"You can you know." Aaron replied, standing behind her at the foot of the bed, still rocking Sarah who was cradled in his arms.

"Are you sure?" How she wanted to, but wasn't this too soon?

"Please?" It was Jack who had swayed her with his too adorable voice.

"Sure buddy, can you let me go to get some pyjama's on?"

"Okay." He mumbled, let go of her neck and instantly fell asleep as he rolled to the middle of the bed, light child snores filling the bed.

"I'll go lock up." Aaron said a satisfied smile on his face as he held Sarah.

Emily nodded, and grabbed some of her old things from the same drawer they had been in when she left weeks ago. Coincidentally they were clothes that used to be his. A faded Harvard Law t-shirt and some maroon basketball shorts to match. She changed in the bathroom, brushed her teeth, her hair and washed her face. When she came out of the ensuite, he was in the room, shirtless and babyless, she stopped in the doorway and stared at him.

Looking at his chest, marred with scars, she realized that they were both scarred, in many ways. Before he could done a shirt, she moved to him and placed her hands on all of scars. Not something that she hadn't done before, but this time felt different. Maybe it's because they were different, or she was different, or whatever. All Emily knew was that she loved this man, their children in the bed, and the fact that Jack had called her 'Momma' had a lot to do with that.

"Let's go to bed."


End file.
